Over the past several days, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has started posting on his social media accounts in a way intended to mimic President Trump, and on Friday’s PBS News Hour, MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart was all for it.
Moderator Geoff Bennett claimed that nobody appears to be more aware than Newsom of Trump’s ability to shape the news cycle, “And it appears that no one is more aware of that in the current moment than California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is trying to beat Trump at his own game, at least online. He's mimicking his style. He's echoing his rants. He's trolling him on social media. Is it going to work?”
Capehart began, “I think it's going to — it is working, I think, simply because this is not new for Governor Newsom. Governor Newsom has been the one Democratic governor who has gone on Fox News and has gone toe-to-toe with Fox World, has gone toe-to-toe with Governor DeSantis in Florida. He has shown he is not afraid to do battle with these folks.”
The entire point of Newsom’s exercise is to try to portray Trump and his supporters as hypocrites, and Capehart thought that was brilliant, “And I saw a press conference he did where a couple — some reporter asked him, well, why are you doing this? Is this unseemly something like that? And he's — why are you mimicking the president? And his answer was basically, you should be — I'm just copying him. If you have a problem with what I'm doing, perhaps you should change your focus and talk to him about why he's doing the things that he's doing.”
Whether you love, hate, or are indifferent towards Trump’s unique style of social media posts, it is hard to deny they authentically reflect who he is. When Newsom does it, it comes across as just another phony act of a politician trying too hard to be seen as relatable or give a sugar high to liberals who want “a fighter.”
Nevertheless, Capehart wanted that sugar high, “I applaud Governor Newsom for what he's doing, not just because he is taking the fight directly to the president, but he is giving voice to a big frustration among Democrats, that why aren't Democrats fighting back against this president? And you have got a governor who's actually doing it.”
National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru would go on to argue that Newsom is just appealing to 2028 primary voters and these posts won’t help Democrats win general elections. That is surely correct. Swing voters in swing states have more pressing concerns than whether or not the governor of California is fighting with Fox’s Dana Perino on X.
Here is a transcript for the August 22 show:
PBS News Hour
8/22/2025
7:51 PM ET
GEOFF BENNETT: And it appears that no one is more aware of that in the current moment than California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is trying to beat Trump at his own game, at least online. He's mimicking his style. He's echoing his rants. He's trolling him on social media. Is it going to work?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: I think it's going to — it is working, I think, simply because this is not new for Governor Newsom.
Governor Newsom has been the one Democratic governor who has gone on Fox News and has gone toe-to-toe with Fox World, has gone toe-to-toe with Governor DeSantis in Florida. He has shown he is not afraid to do battle with these folks.
And I saw a press conference he did where a couple — some reporter asked him, well, why are you doing this? Is this unseemly something like that? And he's — why are you mimicking the president? And his answer was basically, you should be — I'm just copying him. If you have a problem with what I'm doing, perhaps you should change your focus and talk to him about why he's doing the things that he's doing.
I applaud Governor Newsom for what he's doing, not just because he is taking the fight directly to the president, but he is giving voice to a big frustration among Democrats, that why aren't Democrats fighting back against this president? And you have got a governor who's actually doing it.
