Democrats are obviously scrambling when it comes to how to push back against Donald Trump. To be fair, Trump has stomped on any previous notion of a chessboard. It’s harder to fight back against a guy who totally ignores any and all rules of engagement. But still, the Democrats have done poorly showing any sort of major counter strategy to Trump’s war path. And when we do get any resistance, it’s #resistance, not substantial thwarting of power.
Because of this, there’s New Jersey Senator Corey Booker Hamilton-inspired performances and whatever is currently happening on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s @GovPressOffice X account.
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For those unfamiliar, Newsom’s press office account has been really Posting Through It, taking a Trumpian approach to social media. Here are a few examples:
It’s all the right format for “got ‘em” political comedy, but it rings a little false. Everything is too manufactured, too calculated. These are jokes that could have been funny eight years ago, when the concept of an elite group of politicians and international businesspeople being participants in a pedophile ring was a fringe conspiracy theory, not something the Attorney General of the United States is addressing on a weekly basis. This is a bad imitation of Veep era humor, half a decade after the show went off air.
Plus, in terms of timing, it’s too got-damned late. Trump is in his SECOND presidency. He has successfully dismantled much of the federal government. There are real questions about whether or not we’ll have an election in 2028. Playing a troll online might frustrate the Trumpers, but it’s not going to do anything tangible.
The solution to Trump isn’t a Democrat version of Trump; I don’t need Gavin Newsom to adapt the loose-cannon megalomaniac personality Trump has. First, Newsom already clearly has his own ego things going on before he issues new nicknames like “DANA ‘DING DONG’ PERINO.” Not to mention, this attempt is a mere ghost of the cleverness and specificity of Trump’s greatest hits, like Mr. Magoo for Jeff Sessions, Mini Mike Bloomberg, Low Energy Joe for Joe Biden and Low IQ War Hawk for Liz Cheney. His is a methodology that cannot be replicated.
And while Trump and Newsom may both hate homeless people in equal measure, Newsom falls a little short of the true troll hater spirit that possesses Trump like a Catholic demon. Trump is a man who used to call in to HLN just to advocate for Jodie Arias to spend life in prison. Before he held any political power, he called for the death of the wrongfully convicted Central Park Five. He sustained a multi-year, one-sided Twitter feud with the actress Kristen Stewart for cheating on Robert Pattinson.
Just a few more nicknames, to remind everyone who Newsom is going toe-to-toe with: Ditzy DeVos (Betsy DeVos), Birdbrain (Nikki Haley), Broken Old Crow (Mitch McConnell), Pencil Neck (Adam Schiff). This isn’t a man who can be out mean-girled. He’s the meanest old bitch Queens ever saw.
In an attempt to “be relevant” on social media, politicians too often walk into obvious traps from people desperate for fame and money with no principles or even real talent. The latest example is Andrew Cuomo. The (unlikely) NYC mayoral candidate hired a right-wing troll to make memes for his social media accounts. Once it was revealed that the hire had made quite a few racist and sexist tweets on his public account, the Cuomo team was tasked with issuing a public apology. How is any of that a good use of time and resources?
Ultimately, this Newsom bit will have to end; until then we’re all going to have to wonder how much of this energy for trying to replicate the unhinged nature of Trump’s posts could be spent on worthwhile pursuits instead.