California Governor Gavin Newsom sharpened his political attacks Tuesday, targeting Vice President JD Vance with a pointed mix of resurfaced video clips and sharp personal jabs.
Newsom shared a compilation of past interviews in which Vance repeatedly criticized President Donald Trump. In a 2016 interview with Charlie Rose, Vance identified himself as a “never Trump guy” and admitted he “can’t stomach Trump.” He offered even stronger rebukes in other outlets at the time, including NPR, MSNBC, and PBS.
“Grew a beard and lost his spine,” Newsom wrote alongside the video, a quip aimed not just at Vance’s political reversal but also at his changing appearance. In another post, Newsom mocked, “But at least he kept the eyeliner.”
Vance has never addressed speculation about wearing makeup. His wife, Usha, and U.S. Representative George Santos have both said he does not.
The clips Newsom highlighted show Vance taking direct aim at Trump during the 2016 campaign. In one interview with NPR, Vance said Trump was leading the “white working class” in a “noxious” direction. He also cited sexual assault allegations against Trump.
“At the end of the day, do you believe Donald Trump, who always tells the truth? Just kidding. Or you believe the woman on that tape,” Vance told MSNBC in 2016, after a New York Times report alleged Trump inappropriately touched two women.
In another interview, Vance called Trump “a fraud,” and during a PBS appearance, he admitted preferring Hillary Clinton to Trump in that year’s election. He claimed much of Trump’s base of support stemmed from “racism and xenophobia.”
Despite those earlier remarks, Vance has since become one of Trump’s most visible allies. Some Republicans have even floated him as a potential 2028 presidential candidate. His partnership with Trump has also made him a target for Newsom, who has sparred with the vice president repeatedly on social media.
Vance recently criticized Newsom for mimicking Trump’s writing style in posts on X. “When I see Gavin Newsom trying to act like Donald Trump, that’s the opposite of authenticity. He’s not trying to be Gavin Newsom—whoever that is. He’s trying to be a fake carbon copy of Donald Trump. And it just doesn’t work,” Vance told Fox News host Will Cain.
Newsom responded swiftly with another parody post, written in Trump’s familiar all-caps voice. “J.D. ‘JUST DANCE’ VANCE, WHO NOBODY LIKED UNTIL TRUMP PICKED HIM OUT OF THE ‘BARGAIN BIN’ IN THE WALMART CLEARANCE SECTION, WENT ON FOX TO TRASH ME, GAVIN C. NEWSOM, AMERICA’S MOST POPULAR GOVERNOR,” Newsom’s press office wrote.
The exchange marks the latest round in a feud that shows little sign of cooling.