Gavin Newsom, the new troll of Democrats

The Governor of California wants to fight “fire by fire”. With a new more aggressive tone in the face of the Trump administration, Gavin Newsom tries to get the democratic machine out of its inertia. Between offensive and political opportunism, how far can this battle lead it?

The governor decided to face Donald Trump on his own field: trolling on social media, abusive language and electoral redistribution.

His recent attacks on Republicans are not in lace. We are going to hit these bastards on the face!he said on a broadcast program a few days ago. The end justifies the means, believes Gavin Newsom, faced with an administration radical Who vandalise American democracy.

Recently, the Newsom camp even allows itself to provoke President Trump by imitating his messages written in upper letters on social media and by attacking the Fox News network.

Fox hates that I am the favorite governor of the United States (the king of listening ratings) who saves America while Trump can no longer even set up the great staircases of Air Force One!

The Newsom team also has fun qualifying Donald Trump as a socialist leader since his administration announced the purchase of actions of the Intel company by the United States government.

If he hoped to attract the attention of the American president, it was successful. Donald Trump has replied in recent days saying that Gavin Newsom is very low in the polls and that he destroyed California.

This tactic has earned the Democratic Governor to be nicknamed by some of his supporters of dark wokea way for them to highlight its clever character.

His team tries to cut the image of a progressive leader who is not afraid to be trained in a street battle. The goal: to fill the void left by democratic leaders with the federal landing who seem paralyzed and who are struggling to organize in the face of the most controversial actions of the Trump administration.

With this approach, the Newsom team seeks to satisfy the thirst for combativeness of the Democratic base, but its strategy is not without risk. His political communication experiments have not always been successful. He had to defend himself in recent months of having standardized controversial figures of the American right, including Steve Bannon, the former adviser to Donald Trump, and to have given them a platform by inviting them to his broom This is Gavin Newsom.

This new acid style could put out certain factions of the Democratic camp. After all, his strategy seems far from the famous formula of Michelle Obama When they lower, we raise ourselves (When they go low, we go high), stressing the importance of maintaining moral superiority in opposition to movement MAGA.

In any case, online, some Democratic supporters are delighted to see Gavin Newsom switch to the offensive and do not hesitate to portray him as a hero. A user even used artificial intelligence to add his face to the iconic Mont Rushmore.

The battle of the electoral redistribution

Newsom’s burden is not limited to social media. After raised against the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles, he chose his other battle horse: electoral redistribution.

Under his leadership, the Californians will be called upon to vote to authorize a redistribution of the electoral districts of the State in the hope of promoting the Democrats in the next federal elections. This is a counterattack to a similar approach to Texas, where the Republicans have adopted a new electoral card with which they will try to obtain five additional seats in the mid-term elections next year. The objective is to maintain their grip on the congress.

Gavin Newsom is trying to land as a leader and enjoins other Democratic governors to do like him. On the other hand, the idea does not seem to be unanimous. Some Californian Democrats had defended the process of apolitical electoral redistribution in their state. Newsom could also be accused by members of his camp to lower himself to the same tactics as the opponent.

However, in just a week, Gavin Newsom has demonstrated his ability to mobilize democrats. He has raised more than 6 million US dollars online to finance his campaign in favor of electoral redistribution. Former President Barack Obama even described his approach to responsiblefaced with republican maneuvers.

Political ambition

Behind the battle of the Democratic governor also hides a great political ambition. Several observers see it as a way of positioning themselves for the primary which will eliminate the next Democratic candidate in the presidential election of 2028.

A recent probe of the Politico* media* also placed Newsom (25 %) ahead of the former vice-president Kamala Harris (19 %) among Californian Democrats in terms of support for the next Democratic primary.

Even Steve Bannon, former ally of Donald Trump, praised the strategy bright From Gavin Newsom who, according to him, made it possible to energize the Democratic troops.

If, for the moment, the Democratic Governor succeeds in being talked about, his momentum will have to maintain himself until the electoral schedule of 2028, which is still distant.

And beyond political tactics, he will have to be credible, to articulate a broader vision in this real cultural war led by President Trump.

How can he impose himself in this fight for the values ​​of America as freedom or security, what is trying to monopolize the party of Donald Trump?

If he wants to win, the next opponent of the Republicans will have to embody much more than the favorite troll of Democrats.

* These conclusions are taken from two opinion studies. First, one led by Triedot, Citrin Center and possibilities Lab from the UC Berkeley and Politico. The opinion survey took place from July 28 to August 12, 2025 with 1445 registered voters, and the margin of error is estimated at more or less 2.6 %. The other study was conducted from July 30 to August 11, 2025 from 512 Politico Pro subscribers with an estimated margin of error at more or less 3.7 %.