Dark woke: Have Democrats finally found a way to torment Trump?

Look, I realise the word “weird” is overused when it comes to American politics, but it really is gobsmacking when you see the president and the governor of California, the country’s most populous state, exchanging barbs and memes on social media, likening each other to stupid, nappy-clad babies, immobile old women and weak men who can’t box properly.

When, for example, Donald Trump says he might get into shorts when the US hosts the football, as he looks fantastic in shorts, Gavin Newsom says, “please don’t!”

Much of it is actually pretty entertaining, providing relief in a barrage of negative stories, and it highlights how adolescent some of the Trump administration’s publicity has been.

In recent months, the White House press office has put out AI images of Trump as a jacked-up Jedi, Superman, the pope and even a crown-wearing king. Newsom’s office – and now his fan base – have responded with images of the governor on Mount Rushmore, bare-chested and buff, riding a bald eagle, straddling a shark, cradling a kitten in front of the American flag, posing in Calvin Klein underwear, being prayed over by Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan and Tucker Carlson, and drinking MAGA tears.

It’s a parody – but also, it’s working. Now Democrats are beginning to wonder – should they have been doing this all along? Been brash and ebullient, not grave and glum? Clambered the ropes and got in the ring?

The Hill reckons Democrats beyond California are now “obsessed” with Newsom, and that they are seriously weighing his potential as a presidential candidate. His stance as a “happy warrior”, they report, is “winning hearts”.

On social media, Newsom – and his office – satirise Trump’s style, posting in caps, revelling in personal insults and revving his own credentials. Like this:

“FOX HATES THAT I AM AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR (‘RATINGS KING’) SAVING AMERICA – WHILE TRUMP CAN’T EVEN CONQUER THE ‘BIG’ STAIRS ON AIR FORCE ONE ANY MORE!!! … FOX IS LOSING IT BECAUSE WHEN I TYPE, AMERICA NOW WINS!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.”

He calls himself “THE MOST SUCCESSFUL GOVERNOR IN AMERICAN HISTORY”, and asks Canada to gift him a plane he can keep after leaving office. After Trump met with Vladimir Putin, Newsom’s office posted: “THE MAN LOOKED LIKE HE’D JUST EATEN 3 BUCKETS OF KFC WITH VLAD…. MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING HE BEGGED PUTIN TO HOLD HIS HANDS (TINY) ON THE WAY OUT.”

Is the most effective way to counter Trump’s excesses to troll him? To ape his narcissism, mock his small hands and call him a loser? For years probably, Democrats have prided themselves on a refusal to fight dirty – as Michelle Obama memorably put it, “when they go low, we go high”.

But Newsom has decided to go low, and hard, in an attempt to derail and out-troll Trump, becoming the first Democrat to really, aggressively, openly take fire at the president.

And, if we are to measure success by the metrics of attention driving the news cycle (algorithmic dominance) it appears to be working. He has gained 3 million followers across platforms in 2025, amassing more than a billion views.

This is being heralded as a sign of a new era – “dark woke”.

Newsom decided to fully unleash his press office, he says, because he believes there is too much at stake. America, he says, needs to wake up.

The governor, for example, posts photos of Trump saying: “A lot of people are saying maybe we’d like a dictator”, and “I love Black people”, while writing “Super normal stuff, everyone!” – above them.

Newsom and Trump have long had a fraught relationship. Trump calls his West Coast nemesis “Newscum”, and he has blasted his management of the state. He claims Newsom intended to give undocumented migrants “free education, free medical, free everything”. In June, Trump sent National Guard Troops to Los Angeles ostensibly to quell protests; Newsom responded by suing the federal government.

But things have escalated in recent days because of a dispute over gerrymandering. This is what happens when partisans manipulate the redrawing of electoral boundaries, a practice that occurs once a decade after a census is held, to favour their party instead of just adjusting for population changes. Trump has called on loyal GOP states to redraw boundaries now – mid-decade – to give Republicans more seats after the midterms in November 2026. When Texas passed a redraw giving, nominally, five more seats to the GOP, California announced it would design new maps to give Democrats five more seats. Even former president Barack Obama called this a “smart, measured response”, while maintaining that, “over the long term, we shouldn’t have political gerrymandering in America, just a fair fight between Republicans and Democrats based on who’s got better ideas”.

Or, perhaps, better memes.

Newsom on social media said his mid-cycle redistricting proposal had led “MANY” people to call him “GAVIN CHRISTOPHER ‘COLUMBUS’ NEWSOM (BECAUSE OF THE MAPS!). THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.”

He is about to launch his own meme coin, called the Trump Corruption Coin, to add to other merch: shirts and red caps saying: “Newsom Was Right About Everything”, “Trump is Not Hot” and “Make America Gavin Again”.

This isn’t about left and right, or GOP versus Democrats. Traditional alignments have been blown apart as we have seen norms of decency and respect erode. It’s about the way Trump has changed the way we talk to one another, about his incredible ability to manipulate and capture attention and the struggle of his opponents to respond. My Not Stupid cohost Jeremy Fernandez reckons this is how the midterms will be fought now. But the challenge is how to fight hard without permanently debasing politics or junking decency.

Communications specialist Annie Wu, a former staffer for Democrat congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, thinks it’s possible, telling The New York Times earlier this year: “You don’t have to be cruel to be sharp. We can be bold, we can be petty, we can be punchy and still have a moral compass.”

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Columnist and author Julia Baird is cohost of the ABC’s Not Stupid podcast.

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