‘STAND DOWN NOW’: Newsom Gives ‘Lowest Polling President’ Trump a Dose of His Own Social Media Medicine With Bombastic Broadsides

Faced with what is being hyperbolically described as an existential crisis for national Democrats, Gavin Newsom and his colleagues in the California governor’s office are resorting to world-class trolling of their nemesis in the White House, copying his idiosyncratic style of social media posting in an effort to goad the president into retreating from his plan to redraw congressional districts in several red states.So far, they aren’t getting much of a rise out of the influencer-in-chief.One post from Mr. Newsom’s press office on Tuesday said, “DONALD TRUMP, THE LOWEST POLLING PRESIDENT IN RECENT HISTORY, THIS IS YOUR SECOND-TO-LAST WARNING!!! (THE NEXT ONE IS THE LAST ONE!). STAND DOWN NOW OR CALIFORNIA WILL COUNTER-STRIKE (LEGALLY!) TO DESTROY YOUR ILLEGAL CROOKED MAPS IN RED STATES.”“PRESS CONFERENCE COMING — HOSTED BY AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR, GAVIN NEWSOM. FINAL WARNING NEXT. YOU WON’T LIKE IT!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER,” the post added.With its all-capital letters and overabundance of exclamation points, the message mimics Mr. Trump’s social media style and borrows his habit of posting multiple messages or warnings to an individual or entity in a short period of time. The message from the governor’s office ends by copying Mr. Trump’s viral sign-off for his posts, “Thank you for your attention to this matter,” but without the trademark exclamation point.Mr. Newsom’s trolling campaign comes as Democratic leaders are vowing to retaliate against Texas’s mid-decade redistricting plan by drawing new congressional maps of their own. In July, Mr. Trump said he urged Texas Republicans to draw new congressional maps, with the goal of giving his party five new seats in the House. The new districts would be in effect for the 2026 midterms, when Republicans will be defending a razor-thin majority in the House. As Texas Republicans tried to pass the new maps, more than 50 Democratic lawmakers fled the state so that there would not be a quorum to advance the redistricting effort. Democrats in California and New York have said they will try to counteract Texas’s redistricting by drawing up new maps of their own if the Lone Star State goes forward with its plan. On Monday, Mr. Newsom’s press office urged Mr. Trump and other Republicans to stand down.“You are playing with fire, risking the destabilization of our democracy, while knowing that California can neutralize any gains you hope to make,” the letter states. “This attempt to rig congressional maps to hold onto power before a single vote is cast in the 2026 election is an affront to American democracy.”Hours after the letter was posted, Mr. Newsom’s social media account said Mr. Trump has “24 hours to respond” or there will be a “very important press conference with a major announcement.”The governor’s account said, “DONALD TRUMP, IF YOU DO NOT STAND DOWN, WE WILL BE FORCED TO LEAD AN EFFORT TO REDRAW THE MAPS IN CA TO OFFSET THE RIGGING OF MAPS IN RED STATES. BUT IF THE OTHER STATES CALL OFF THEIR REDISTRICTING EFFORTS, WE WILL DO THE SAME. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!”Mr. Newsom’s team also has been trolling the president’s decision to extend the pause on tariffs on China for another 90 days. It shared Mr. Trump’s viral 2016 post celebrating Cinco De Mayo by eating a taco bowl at Trump Tower and wrote, “Today’s White House menu: TACO salad,” a reference to the phrase, “Trump Always Chickens Out,” used by Wall Street traders to poke fun at the president’s tendency to delay or walk back his threats. Another post featured a graph of price increases next to a picture of Mr. Trump pointing, with the caption, “I did that!” During President Biden’s time in office, conservatives frequently shared similar graphics featuring the 46th president to tar him as inflation soared. The account also mocked the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, with a meme of what appears to be a North Korean news anchor and the caption, “The great leader’s tariffs do not raise prices. Things cost more because we are in Golden Age.” Mr. Newsom’s team hit a sore spot for the president this week, attacking his decision to place Washington’s police department under federal control, writing, “He’ll do anything but release the Epstein files.”Despite the work of the governor and his team, Mr. Trump seems to be unbothered by the posts, at least publicly, focusing instead on favorite targets such as the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, columnist Paul Krugman, and a Democratic congresswoman, Jasmine Crockett. “‘Congresswoman’ Jasmine Crockett is a Low (Very!!!) I.Q. Individual, much in the mold of the AOC Plus Three Gang of Country Destroying Morons – Only slightly dumber,” Mr. Trump posted Monday. “Each of these political hacks should be forced to take a Cognitive Exam, much like the one I recently took while getting my ‘physical’ at our GREAT Washington, D.C., Military Hospital (WR!). “As the doctors said, ‘President Trump ACED it, something that is rarely seen!’ These Radical Left Lunatics would all fail this test in a spectacular show of stupidity and incompetence. TAKE THE TEST!!!” he added.

‘STAND DOWN NOW’: Newsom Gives ‘Lowest Polling President’ Trump a Dose of His Own Social Media Medicine With Bombastic Broadsides

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