Gavin Newsom could not have fallen out of a coconut tree, however the present California governor and sure presidential marketing campaign hopeful seems to be following in former vice chairman Kamala Harris’s footsteps in different methods. Namely, Newsom seems to have taken on the mantle of Democratic Party troll-in-chief, utilizing memes and shareable content material throughout social media to mock and decide fights with Donald Trump.
Harris, throughout her abbreviated presidential run, used social media to increase her attain, discovering specific success on platforms like TikTok and together with her speedy response X (previously Twitter) deal with, @kamalahq. Through unique memes and trending sound, in addition to zeitgeisty moments like Charli XCX’s “brat summer ” vibe, the Harris marketing campaign discovered a candy spot that linked to audiences and memorably conveyed the marketing campaign’s messaging. Newsom, now, is delighting commenters on each his private and official TikTok pages with posts that includes memes from Hamilton urging California to “rise up,” a fact-check of past Trump statements about states’ rights that the president is now contradicting set to a techno soundtrack that additionally calls him a liar, and one other taunting Trump about his personal social media missives set to evergreen Trump foe Taylor Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down.”
And that’s simply up to now few days.
Newsom, whose workplace didn’t reply to Vanity Fair’s request for remark, clearly paid shut consideration to the messaging technique supercharged throughout the 2024 election cycle: His workplace nonetheless, for instance, printed the press release version of that fact-check TikTok on his official web site, however the commenter who threw an “OMG SLAYYYY” on the TikTok is probably going not heading to Newsom’s web site’s newsroom vertical to learn up, neither is the one who wrote “It feel illegal to be this early.” Others brazenly marvel if Harris’ media crew discovered knowledgeable house with one other Californian, this one a 6’3” white man. (The Democratic National Committee truly scooped many of them up earlier this yr. Alex Brase, not a Harris alum, is listed as a Newsom digital staffer.)
As Newsom seizes an natural second within the political highlight, literally daring Trump to arrest him amidst the protests rocking Los Angeles and standing against an actual army, he’s additionally pulling from Team Trump’s personal media technique as properly: He not too long ago launched a podcast, a software that the MAGA devoted used to attach particularly with younger male voters. Results in that enviornment have been blended, to this point: Newsom dedicated to talking with friends from either side of the aisle, however has since realized that trying to buddy up to folks like Steve Bannon just isn’t going to make him any buddies (together with Steve Bannon), nor delight would-be constituents.
Whether memes will finally matter within the subsequent election stays to be seen, however in these very early phases, as Democrats proceed to dissect what went unsuitable and what instruments are value conserving round, it’s actually value a observe.
