It may not go down well—certainly with him—to suggest that Donald Trump may not be the most interesting man in the world. But, if you believe the polls where he’s underwater, that just may be the case.
Making sure to drive home the point, California Governor Gavin Newsom and his team are using ‘X,’ formerly known as Twitter, to taunt Trump, sometimes using humor, other times cutting deeply. And, if the whole purpose of this electronic ‘serve and volley’ campaign is to get under Trump’s skin, it seems to be working. Trump often responds by calling the golden state governor, Gavin ‘Newscum.’
But while the ribbing may often seem playful, at least to some, it very likely is part of a long-term strategy for getting Newsom’s name out and easily recognizable. Call it an ‘eyes on the prize’ campaign.
The 58-year-old Newsom’s résumé reads like it should be written on gold leaf parchment. His political climb from Campaign volunteer to the Golden State’s highest office is textbook meteoric.
Though the telegenic Newsom may look like the picture of privilege and straight from central casting, his early life reflects many of the same challenges of the working class.
Newsom’s parents divorced when he was three and he was raised primarily by a single mother who sometimes worked three jobs to care for him and a younger sister. He was also diagnosed as ‘severe dyslexic’ in first grade. He relied on audio books to aid in learning his subjects.
In high school, he excelled as an athlete playing all three sports. He later attended Santa Clara University where he also played baseball, but injuries put an end to any dream of taking it beyond college.
Newsom has often said that his early life, seeing his mother work as hard as she did as a single parent and experiencing its financial challenges, were what inspired his life in public service.
His ascent as a city official began modestly enough when in 1996, he was appointed San Francisco’s Parking and Traffic Commissioner. Next, he filled a vacancy on the Board of Supervisors and a year later, in 1998, won election to the board.
In 2004, at age 36, Newsom became San Francisco Mayor, the youngest person to win the office. He also won a second term. In 2011, he became California’s Lieutenant Governor.
After two terms as both Jerry Brown’s and Arnold Swartzenegger’s number two, he won the state’s top job, becoming Governor in 2018. He won reelection in 2022.
But, in 2021, as Governor, a very poor decision, one for which he took responsibility and apologized for, nearly cost him his job and, perhaps, even a political future. During the pandemic, as he was urging Californians to be extra cautious, to avoid crowds and holiday traveling, he face-planted in a very foolish, perhaps stupid way.
Very unwisely, Newsom went against his own public health pronouncements and joined a large dinner party at the ultra-fancy French Laundry, a restaurant where a single meal can soar well beyond $400. The story reported by the San Francisco Chronical exploded within hours.
Despite acknowledging bad, even tone-deaf judgment, the political cost was enormous and well beyond anything he imagined. Angry voters organized a recall. Luckily, Newsom survived.
While he, like all politicians, has his detractors, including many unwilling to forgive his French Laundry faux pas, Newsom’s national profile remains largely positive.
In recent weeks, Newsom has assembled a team that monitors Trump’s often aggrandized and late hours pronouncements. For example, when Trump touts how he has lowered beef prices, but market prices reflect the opposite, Team Newsom pounces with a ‘LOL,’ or with an unmistakable emoji.
When the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was recently awarded to Venezuelan activist Maria Corina Machado and not Donald Trump, Newsom’s ‘X’ account offered a caustic three-word post: ‘What a loser.’ Trump had been openly, almost clumsily lobbying for the prize for months.
While playfully ‘X-ing’ at Trump’s expense, Newsom has also been at war with White House policies and Trump’s top aide, Stephen Miller, whose straight-from-the-dark side ICE policies have rankled even many in the party. It is Miller who urged Trump to deploy both the National Guard and the military on U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago.
When ICE protests broke out in Los Angeles in June, Trump justified sending in troops as necessary because, as he said, Newsom “totally lost control of the situation.” At the same time, he dispatched ICE to roundup of as many undocumented as possible. It targeted day laborers, restaurant workers and agriculture workers. Also caught in the dragnet were American citizens.
Newsom called Trump’s deployment of troops to California a “breach of state sovereignty…designed to inflame.” He has also been critical of similar troops deployment to Chicago, Memphis and Portland, all coincidentally politically blue cities with Democratic mayors.
While Newsom’s detractors, including those in the White House, scoff at his tête-à-tête with Trump, the California governor apparently has no plans of stopping. Newsom and his team want to keep the spotlight on a President who has almost daily reengineered the way the country’s business is done while making sure everyone knows who’s shining it.
