The meme war between President Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is escalating, with the two men exchanging a flurry of online posts within the past 24 hours mocking one another.
Trump on Wednesday took to Truth Social to jab Newsom with a couple of posts taunting the likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender. The first edited video portrayed a man appearing to be Newsom screaming while lightly hitting a punching bag adorned with Trump’s face.
In another post, Newsom’s face is superimposed and he’s portrayed as donning a “Trump 2028” hat and saying, “I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I received a Trump 2028 hat in the mail. These guys are not screwing around.”
But Newsom quickly fired back with his own memes on social platform X late Wednesday evening.
In one meme, seemingly jabbing the president about the discussion lately about his health, Newsom depicts Trump on the floor crying out, “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” from an old ad featuring a medical alert device.
In another meme, posted by Newsom, the California governor is holding a toddler-sized version of Trump having a tantrum in a diaper as Newsom places him behind bars.
The digital fistfight comes as Newsom has taken an aggressive strategy to mirror Trump in social media posts and in public remarks, pleasing Democrats who have wanted someone in their party to stand up to the president.
As a result, Democrats, who have been rudderless since their devastating loss in the November election, have been gravitating toward Newsom. Several recent 2028 polls show he has become either the front-runner or in the top three of would-be candidates.
“The best way to deal with him is through outright mockery and ridicule, not just wringing the hands in horror and fretting about the danger he poses to western civilization,” said Garry South, a Democratic strategist based in California who worked for Newsom. “He actually gets off on the latter: Oh wow, how powerful and omnipotent I must be. People are afraid of me.”
“Taunting him and making sport of him, that’s something his massive ego can’t take,” South added.
Trump and Newsom haven’t just exchanged barbs online. The president went after the governor in the Oval Office on Wednesday after a reporter asked if Newsom should be investigated over his handling of the wildfires that ravaged his state earlier this year.
“I watched him with the hands. I’m saying ‘What’s going on with the hands?’ There’s something wrong with him. You watch him. There’s something wrong with this guy.”
But Newsom was quick to respond with his own digital clapback. He posted a series of recent clips showing Trump’s hands, including images of apparent makeup to cover bruising.
One Republican strategist close to the Trump orbit predicted it’s a fight Newsom will lose.
“Look, there’s only one Trump and he’s good at this,” the strategist said.
