Meet Izzy Gardon — the press flack behind the “@GovPressOffice” account that has begun imitating and mocking President Donald Trump, with the state still needing $40 billion in federal aid for fire victims.
Gardon, who lists his term as “student body president” in high school on his LinkedIn profile (along with numerous social media jobs in politics), confirms on X that he is responsible for “bad work related tweets” associated with @GovPressOffice.
His official title is Director of Communications for Governor Gavin Newsom — meaning that he is responsible for the @GovPressOffice account, which is the official, state-owned account for the governor’s press office.
(Another press official, Camille Zapata, is Newsom’s digital director, but helps manage other accounts.)
As Breitbart News has noted, the @GovPressOffice account attempts to mimic the tone and style of Trump’s Truth Social posts, in between official press statements.
The imitation is a rather poor impersonation, focusing on abusive language and lacking Trump’s wit — a projection of what Democrats think Trump sounds like, or what he sounds like through an anti-Trump filter.
The account mocks people who take the ALL CAPS posts seriously, as if they have fallen for a parody account — which @GovPressOffice, decidedly, is not.
Gardon is not shy to take victory laps over what he sees as living “rent-free” in the president’s head:
He also enjoys taking potshots at Republicans — including one recent post on his personal account in which he mocked the appearance of Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
And he retweets his “greatest hits” from work:
The @GovPressOffice account echoes the bitter and divisive tone that Gov. Newsom himself has taken in public statements and speeches over the last several months, including personal attacks on the president.
Meanwhile, Newsom is seeking $40 billion from Congress in supplemental relief due to the wildfires in January — funding that Trump would have to sign into law, assuming that Congress can provide the votes.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), who represents the area damaged by the Palisades Fire, has argued that the federal government should not withhold aid from California over policy differences. After all, he argues, California does not deny aid to hurricane victims in socially conservative states because of abortion bans.
Newsom appears to be counting on Sherman’s argument. But Breitbart News has learned that further fire aid funding for California could be in serious jeopardy.
Notably, Newsom took the opposite approach during the pandemic, when he frequently praised Trump for his help. With no reelection to look forward to, and a presidential campaign in 2028, Newsom has apparently given Gardon free rein.
The governor has either given up on $40 billion for fire victims — or is deciding to risk it, hoping to boost his own profile, and his appeal to Democratic Party primary voters.
Hence Newsom and Gordon are trolling the president instead of working with him.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
