Newsom vs. Trump: The social media showdown Democrats need

The California governor's trolling masterclass is shaping the 2028 conversation.

During the 2024 election, social media wasn’t just a tool, it was the battlefield. Donald Trump had long understood how to bend the algorithm to his will, using brash, unfiltered posts—from petty feuds with celebrities to unhinged attacks on rivals—to dominate the conversation and set the agenda. Democrats tried to adapt, with culture-infused posts on the popular social accounts under Kamala HQ, but post-mortems have shown they were still outpaced. A Pew study found that nearly half of all news influencers’ posts on X in 2024 leaned conservative, with only 28% leaning left, a direct reflection of Elon Musk’s takeover and the platform’s rightward tilt.

Democrats have experimented with their digital strategy—sometimes awkwardly, like TikTok dances that backfired, and sometimes cleverly, like Eric Swalwell’s “I Should Be Working Right Now” series mocking Republicans for skipping out on Congress. But since the inauguration, no one has managed to break through like Gavin Newsom. The California governor has combined policy with a brash, meme-ready online presence that mirrors Trump’s style while flipping it against him. Newsom’s push for Proposition 50, which would redraw California’s congressional maps in retaliation to Texas’s mid-decade gerrymandering, was announced with a post in all caps, mimicking Trump’s signature bombast: “DONALD TRUMP, IF YOU DO NOT STAND DOWN, WE WILL BE FORCED TO LEAD AN EFFORT TO REDRAW THE MAPS IN CA…” That single post earned five million views and nearly 100,000 likes.

From there, the Newsom Press Office account escalated its tone, leaning into absurdity. That included an AI-generated image of Kid Rock, the late Hulk Hogan with a halo, and Tucker Carlson kneeling in prayer before Newsom, posted with a sarcastic caption. When a user called the content “blasphemous,” the account responded with a screenshot of an AI-generated image posted by the White House depicting Trump as the Pope. The response—“oops, our bad, sorry. Meant to post this-”— cleverly pointed out the hypocrisy of conservatives being outraged at Newsom while ignoring the actions of the White House.

Since January, Newsom’s accounts across X, TikTok, and Facebook have tracked over a billion impressions, with hundreds of thousands of new followers gained in just days, his campaign told Politico. Asked about the tone, Newsom brushed it off, saying if anyone had a problem, they should take it up with Trump, because he was simply following the president’s example.

Fox News, predictably, has fumed—particularly over a jab in which Newsom accused Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of having“rolled over” to Trump’s demands, sparking outrage among conservatives who believed Newsom was mocking Abbott’s use of a wheelchair. When pressed by Fox if the insult was intentional, Newsom’s office coolly replied, “No. But how woke of you to ask!” The backlash only amplified the posts further, fueling the cycle of outrage clicks and attention.

The new social strategy has energized Democrats online, inspiring supporters to churn out their own absurd AI-generated tributes to Newsom. One viral post shows him with a cartoonishly ripped physique, dual-wielding pistols while riding a velociraptor draped in an American flag—captioned, “MURICA!!!! DONALD TRUMP CAN NEVER DO THIS!”

The results speak for themselves. A new Echelon Insights poll shows Newsom’s favorability among Democrats has jumped 3 points in just a month, and a Politico poll of a hypothetical 2028 presidential primary has him leading Kamala Harris among California Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents 25% to 19%.

Newsom’s social media posts haven’t just boosted his visibility with Democratic audiences who enjoy them—they’ve also gotten under Republican’s skin. This past week, Fox News has obsessed over his online presence, devoting multiple segments across multiple shows to criticizing Newsom’s recent interviews with left-leaning social media influencers. On Wednesday night, following Texas Republicans’ vote on the redistricting maps, Trump took to Truth Social to talk about Newsom, saying “Gavin Newscum is way down in the polls” and saying Trump would “save California!!!” Mere hours after Republicans secured a victory in their redistricting attempt, the right-wing news ecosystem was focused primarily on Newsom.

Newsom’s social media posts are boosting his national profile when the fight over redistricting and Trump’s attempts to rig the midterms are dominating the headlines.

What this proves is simple: Newsom has cracked the code Democrats have struggled with for years. He’s meeting voters where they are, weaponizing social media with humor, irreverence, and confidence instead of timidity. When attention is the most valuable political currency, Newsom isn’t just holding his own—he’s shaping the narrative. Whether that translates into a 2028 presidential run remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Gavin Newsom has shown Democrats what it looks like to fight Trumpism on its own turf and win hearts and minds while doing it.

Olivia Julianna is a Texas Democratic Strategist and Gen Z firebrand. She is an abortion rights activist, democracy organizer, and political influencer. With over 1 million followers across TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram, her content has accumulated over 1 billion views, changing the political landscape and putting youth voices front and center in the fight for our future.

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