California Governor Gavin Newsom’s (D) press office reportedly escalated its confrontational social media strategy this week, lashing out at Fox News anchor Dana Perino after she criticized the governor’s approach to public communications.
“ALMOST A WEEK IN AND THEY STILL DON’T GET IT,” Newsom’s office posted Monday on the platform X, responding directly to a segment on Fox News’s The Five.
Perino, a former top aide in President George W. Bush’s White House, had criticized Newsom’s reliance on combative online posts. “They have to stop it with the Twitter thing,” she said during the broadcast. In a personal aside, she added, “I don’t know where his wife is. If I were his wife, I would say you are making a fool of yourself, stop it.”
The governor’s official press account has increasingly mirrored the tone and style of the very politician it claims to oppose.
In recent days, Newsom’s team has mocked President Donald Trump and his administration in all-caps posts and leveled attacks against Fox News and its hosts directly.
One post last week, tied to the contentious redistricting battles that have spread across the country, singled out Trump in language meant to echo the president’s own social media rhetoric. “DONALD TRUMP, THE LOWEST POLLING PRESIDENT IN RECENT HISTORY, THIS IS YOUR SECOND-TO-LAST WARNING!!! (THE NEXT ONE IS THE LAST ONE!),” the account declared. “STAND DOWN NOW OR CALIFORNIA WILL COUNTER-STRIKE (LEGALLY!) TO DESTROY YOUR ILLEGAL CROOKED MAPS IN RED STATES.”
The threats came after Texas Democrats fled the state to block a vote on new congressional maps that would create up to five additional Republican-leaning seats.
In response, California Democrats unveiled their own legislation Monday to push forward with a redistricting plan aimed at countering the GOP effort.
Newsom’s press office has cast the governor’s aggressive tone as a show of political muscle. But critics note that the strategy risks undermining his credibility at a moment when he is widely seen as positioning himself for higher office, potentially eyeing a presidential run in 2028.
Perino, speaking after the governor’s office targeted her directly, framed the issue in terms of leadership seriousness. “He’s got a big job as governor of California, but if he wants an even bigger job, he has to be a little bit more serious,” she said.
For conservatives, the exchange highlights a broader pattern: a governor presiding over a state with soaring costs, high crime, and widespread outmigration, yet devoting time and energy to performative battles on social media. The choice to mimic Trump’s style while attacking him underscores the contradiction.
While Newsom has frequently criticized Trump as unfit for office, his press strategy now openly borrows from Trump’s combative, all-caps style.
In the process, his team has picked fights not only with the president but also with journalists, drawing rebukes from those who see his tactics as unbecoming of a state leader.
For now, Newsom appears undeterred, casting his online battles as part of a broader effort to rally Democrats nationally. But Perino’s warning — that such antics make him “a fool” rather than a future leader — reflects the skepticism that may follow him well beyond Sacramento.
[READ MORE: Sherrod Brown Launches Comeback Bid, Challenging Ohio’s GOP Senate Hold]
