Kevin Wallsten, political science professor, at California State University, Long Beach, explains impact of Governor Newsom's move by using social media to take jabs at President Trump.

California

California Governor Gavin Newsom has adopted a confrontational social media strategy, mirroring online tactics used in popular culture, to challenge former President Donald Trump. This approach includes viral posts and parody merchandise that exaggerate Trump-associated imagery, aiming to capture public attention and energize Democratic supporters.

Political analysts note that Newsom's tactics have significantly increased his online following and improved his standing in betting markets for the Democratic Party's 2028 presidential nomination. While some strategists argue that such trolling may not address deeper issues facing the party, others believe that if Newsom's approach proves successful, it could become a model for other Democrats, especially as the party seeks to address internal challenges and regain voter support.

Political trolling: Newsom vs. Trump

You really about to do it? Yeah, they tried to rig the game, but you can't fake influence. They get on it like that. Hey, I'm trippin', I'm slidin', I'm ridin' through the deck like... Well, taking a page from Kendrick Lamar's playbook, Governor Newsom's social media team is trolling President Trump, mirroring the same online tactics Lamar used to humble Drake in their rap feud. The post is just one of other viral moves and trends, like parodying merch, dripping with MAGA-style exaggerations. Cal State Long Beach Department of Political Science Professor Kevin Walston joins me live to discuss the effectiveness of the governor's latest tactic. Thank you so much for joining us, Kevin. Hi, great to be here. Alright, so Kevin, we've seen this develop over the last week or so. Do you think this is resonating, and why do you think it's resonating, grabbing so much attention from the public? Well, it certainly has resonated, just tracking some simple metrics, looking at how many people are seeing the posts on social media, looking at how many people are following Governor Newsom. These things are all through the roof. Importantly, I think, for Governor Newsom, his odds in the betting markets associated with becoming the Democratic Party's nominee in 2028 have doubled since he started doing this. The context in which this is occurring, of course, is the Democratic Party is somewhat rudderless. They've struggled to combat Trump. They've struggled to combat his influence, not just over the last couple years, but really for the last decade. And the Democratic Party is without a national leader, so into that vacuum, I think, Newsom is trying to step. And so far, so good from his perspective, it appears this new confrontational, kind of quasi-trolling and mimicking style for President Trump is going to be the recipe that catapults him into that vacuum. So, Kevin, that leads me to this here. Democratic strategist Liz Smith told Vanity Fair's Molly Jungfast, quote, I think it makes some people very excited, but it's not the answer. The answer is candidates who can connect to voters and who can overcome Dem brand in toilet, end quote. You know, with that in mind, it seems as though the current way of doing things, the Democrats' way of doing things, hasn't gotten the attention. So, you know, to hear some Dems say, well, they're not focusing enough on the issues related to voters, is that an effective argument in light of what we're seeing here? It's undoubtedly effective. Look, the Democratic Party, again, is a little bit lost. It's not uncommon for parties who lose major presidential elections for those parties to end up in this position. They're going to have to solve their more fundamental problems with voters. They're historically unpopular. That's true not only with Republicans, but also with their own party. Some of that frustration, again, is the sort of consequence of many people in the Democratic Party thinking that the party hasn't resisted successfully Trump. Now, this is a short-term strategy, but it's likely to have diminishing returns in the longer run. Newsom has to position himself, obviously, as the key fighter against Trump. But ultimately, Newsom's success and the Democratic Party's success more broadly will come down to how they're able to solve fundamental questions related to good governance. It's not enough just to resist Trump. It's not enough just to be a fighter. It's not enough to troll him or upset him. It's not enough to get him to respond to you on social media. You're also going to have to deal with some of these deeper concerns that the Democratic Party hasn't addressed for most voters. So with that in mind, it looks like Governor Newsom has a two-pronged strategy here. We do have the trolling that we see online, and we also have this big pushback against redistricting in states like Texas. California's doing it here. Bold moves like this that seem to be getting a lot of attention. Of course, the parroting, the mirroring, and the trolling will not do enough. But is this two-pronged approach here? Is that really kind of a recipe here that we could see other Democrats follow? Yeah, I think a lot of people are watching how this is playing out. And if, in fact, this turns out to be a successful way for Democrats to elevate their criticisms of Trump and have them land with your median voter, I think you'll see a lot of Democrats copy the Newsom playbook. So much rests on how the redistricting ballot initiative plays out over the next couple of months. That's going to be crucial for the Democratic Party. It's going to be crucial for Newsom's success in the future. And, again, if Newsom is able to leverage this new social media popularity and this new style into electoral success, into congressional redistricting, into more popularity with Democrats nationally, then I think a lot of people are going to follow suit. Yeah. We had a lot of Democrats move over and vote for Trump in the last election, so we'll see if this is the recipe that the Democrats have been searching for all this time. Kevin Walston, political science professor at Cal State Long Beach, thank you for joining us and providing your insight. We appreciate your time. Thank you.

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