California Gov. Gavin Newsom is leaning into his role as one of Donald Trump’s sharpest critics, and this Labor Day, he pulled out the memes.
Using his official press office account, Newsom went after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt by giving her a pop culture makeover. He shared an image of her dressed as Effie Trinket, the flamboyant character from The Hunger Games. The caption? “KAROLYIN’ LEAVITT says Happy Labor Day!”
If that wasn’t enough, he doubled down with another holiday jab, this time aimed at senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller. Newsom depicted Miller as none other than Voldemort, the dark villain from the Harry Potter series. It wasn’t even the first time — just last month he used the same imagery in a sarcastic birthday post.
The memes may seem playful on the surface, but they’re part of a bigger strategy. Newsom has been using his press account to mimic Trump’s fiery social media style, posting in all caps, exaggerating, and sometimes lifting Trump’s exact wording. The goal, he insists, isn’t just trolling for the sake of laughs.
“We’re putting a mirror up to the lunacy that is Trump’s tweets, and his grift, the madness that is someone that would dress up as the pope and tweet that out or put his face up there on Mount Rushmore, or in a Superman costume,” Newsom told reporters last week. “So I do think it’s important to put that mirror, that lens, back and have everyone reflect on it and say, ‘Have we accepted this as normal? Why aren’t we calling this out more clearly?’”
For Newsom, the trolling is political theater with a message. By throwing Trump’s bombastic style back at his team, he’s trying to remind voters just how unusual and over-the-top Trump’s approach has been — while highlighting how much of it has seeped into everyday political discourse.
This isn’t the first time Newsom has gone toe-to-toe with Trump’s camp online, and it probably won’t be the last. His posts have increasingly blurred the line between traditional political messaging and internet meme culture, a space where Trump has long thrived. By jumping into that same arena, Newsom seems determined to show that Democrats can not only respond but also play offense in a language voters are already fluent in: viral, shareable content.
Whether you find it funny or petty depends on where you stand politically. To critics, it’s a governor wasting time on memes. To supporters, it’s a sharp and creative way of calling out Trump and his inner circle. Either way, Newsom’s online persona is carving out headlines, sparking conversations, and keeping his name in the mix.
As campaign season ramps up, don’t expect the meme wars to slow down anytime soon. If anything, Labor Day was just another reminder that in today’s politics, the battle for attention can be just as fierce as the battle for votes.