California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) struggled to respond after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) trolled him on Saturday with a photo of a demonstrator in a giant penis costume at a “No Kings” protest.
The demonstrator in question, apparently at a rally in Portland, Oregon, held a sign that read: “Deport Deez Nuts.”
“Breaking: Gavin Newsom has shown up to the riot!” the DHS account added as a caption to the photo.
“You’re an embarrassment,” was all the governor could manage in reply, after months of trying to imitate President Donald Trump’s troll game on social media, a decidedly weak response that won few reposts.
Newsom and his staff have relished the idea that they have somehow matched Trump’s troll game by shadow-boxing him in one-sided callouts for the benefit of Democrats, who have cheered the governor’s brashness.
Saturday’s DHS post put Newsom in an difficult position, as it confronted him with the vulgar and absurd nature of the “No Kings” protest, which was marked by aging “gran-tifa” activists, often in odd costumes.
Newsom often exercises untrammeled executive authority in California, in excess of the supposedly “kingly” behavior of President Donald Trump. For example, Newsom banned group prayer during the coronavirus pandemic — not just in public, but in private homes (later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court).
Newsom and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker have been in a race to the bottom to see who can be more anti-Trump, as they position themselves for the 2028 Democratic Party presidential primary — and as their respective states continue to suffer major public policy challenges, which neither governor seems to want to address.
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 recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
