Simply while you thought it was secure to return on TikTok, viral Gavin Newsom memes are taking up social media.
There’s Newsom Photoshopped right into a traditional black-and-white Calvin Klein advert (fake ripped abs and all). Newsom on the quilt of a fake romance novel (Fabio “bodice ripper” vibes abound). Newsom in a T-shirt declaring, “That is my actual hair” (an unsubtle jab at President Trump). And my private favourite: an AI-generated picture of Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock and Tucker Carlson praying over him.
Probably the most audacious? A parody of Trump’s iconic post-assassination-attempt photograph — besides Newsom isn’t elevating a fist. He’s holding a bottle of ketchup (presumably referencing faux blood).
Then there’s Newsom sipping from a mug labeled “MAGA Tears.” Newsom as Superman. Newsom as Mel Gibson in “The Patriot.” Newsom with Jesus behind him, fingers on his shoulders.
Unseemly? Sure. Efficient? Most likely.
We’d prefer to suppose we’re too refined to fall for this nonsense. However memes work as a result of they bypass the rational mind and goal our unconscious. See somebody sufficient occasions in a cape, glowing halo overhead and American flags flying, all whereas mounting a lion — and ultimately a part of you absorbs the message: This particular person is bigger than life.
And right here’s the genius half: There’s believable deniability for the purveyor. Memes are propaganda posing as parody. They’ll at all times be disregarded as a joke. You get to inject iconography into the bloodstream (both in your candidate or in opposition to your opposition), after which shrug and say you’re simply trolling, lol. Within the case of Newsom, that is doubly so, since his memes are parodies, illustrating the absurdity of Trump’s.
For years, Trump monopolized this infantile, if devious, sport. That’s partly as a result of it takes appreciable audacity to advertise a picture of your self as a ripped Marvel superhero (or because the pope) while you’re visibly … not. However shamelessness is Trump’s superpower.
Now Newsom needs in.
He’s borrowing the Trump playbook: daring federal officers to “arrest me,” vowing to “fight like hell” in opposition to the Trump administration’s efforts to extract $1 billion from UCLA and even slapping a Trump-style title on a invoice (the “Election Rigging Response Act”) to counter Texas’ try and create 5 new Republican congressional seats.
And now, together with his press store blasting ALL CAPS taunts (“DONALD IS FINISHED — HE IS NO LONGER ‘HOT’ ”) and the proliferation of those viral pictures, Newsom has totally joined the Trump meme wars.
Typically the trolling is intelligent — like pasting JD Vance’s face on an Australian breakdancer (Newsom’s punny nickname for the veep is “Simply Dance Vance”). Different occasions it’s a bit merciless — like retweeting an image of a suave, younger Newsom juxtaposed with a clumsy teenage Vance.
Both method, the purpose lands the identical. Newsom is taller, cooler and higher trying. And he has higher hair than Trump or Vance ever will. As soon as upon a time, we’d have anticipated such gloating to backfire and repel Joe and Jane Sixpack. However within the Trump period of flashy braggadocio and chest-thumping one-upmanship, Newsom is combating hearth with hearth.
On this weird new Trumpian section of American politics, California’s governor isn’t sitting again. He’s hitting again. He’s combating on Trump’s turf (TikTok, X, Bluesky and Instagram) and in the identical meme financial system.
And it simply may work. Bear in mind the 2016 major? Republican voters disregarded the “critical” candidates and went with Trump, largely as a result of “he fights.”
To make sure, Democrats should not Republicans. Their base has totally different priorities. However don’t rule out the likelihood that toughness — and a willingness to throw elbows on-line — may resonate with voters who watched Trump roll over Kamala Harris.
Now, none of this implies Newsom is destined to be the Democratic nominee. He comes throughout as just a little too slick, just a little too formidable — suppose Ted Cruz. His governing document is hardly a promoting level, particularly at a time when the cost of living has change into a high nationwide concern. And let’s be trustworthy: Profitable elections in one of many bluest states within the union isn’t precisely a résumé that screams “broad attraction.”
This brings us to the California downside. Harris, the Democratic nominee within the final cycle, hails from the Golden State, and Democrats might imagine twice earlier than doubling down with one other “left coast” liberal. Add to that Newsom’s stint as mayor of San Francisco — a metropolis conservatives love to carry up as a cautionary story — and you’ll see why some strategists may suppose he’s radioactive within the swing state suburbs.
Nonetheless, politics at the moment is much less about political accomplishments and extra about fight abilities. In a perpetual cage match, Democrats could resolve that Newsom’s sharp elbows, media savvy and willingness to combine it up make him their greatest wager in 2028. In brief, his saving grace could also be this: He fights!
Matt Okay. Lewis is the creator of “Filthy Rich Politicians” and “Too Dumb to Fail.”
