Donna Brazile Slams Newsom’s Trump Trolling as Unserious and Unhelpful

Even Democrats are starting to say what Republicans have known for years Gavin Newsom is more interested in political theater than real leadership.

On Sunday’s This Week on ABC, former DNC chair Donna Brazile openly criticized Newsom’s juvenile online antics aimed at mocking President Donald Trump. After host Jonathan Karl highlighted Newsom’s Trump-like social media posts and trolling merchandise campaigns, Brazile didn’t hold back.

“These are serious times that require serious people to be at the table,” she said flatly, brushing off Newsom’s antics as unserious and out of touch.

And she’s right.

Newsom’s recent posts including a red hat knockoff that reads “Newsom was right about everything” have been widely shared among left-wing circles and fawned over by media elites. But for a nation grappling with skyrocketing inflation, lawless streets, and foreign chaos, memes and mockery aren’t leadership they’re distractions.

Brazile’s comments came during a broader conversation about the Democratic Party hemorrhaging registered voters a trend recently reported by The New York Times. She pointed out that Democrats have outsourced critical operations like voter registration to third-party groups that failed to deliver results. Her takeaway: the party is drifting, and gimmicks like Newsom’s aren’t the solution.

"We have to do the basic things," Brazile warned. "But we also have to be prepared to do what Gavin Newsom is urging Democrats... fight back, punch harder."

Yet she drew a clear line between fighting back with ideas and wasting time with internet trolling.

Newsom’s team predictably rushed to his defense. His director of communications, Izzy Gardon, claimed the governor was “holding up a mirror and mocking” Trump, not imitating him. But the reality is Newsom is spending more time crafting social media roasts than governing a state plagued by homelessness, crime, and a mass exodus of businesses.

Even liberal pundits are divided.

• Bill Maher, no stranger to edgy takes, praised Newsom’s trolling and said, “You have to outstupid them.”

• But Frank Bruni, also on Maher’s panel, pushed back: “Since Trump came down that escalator in 2015, Democrats have been mocking him and belittling him as a strategy.” And how has that worked out for them?

Mocking Trump doesn’t beat Trump. It didn’t in 2016. It didn’t in 2020. And it won’t work in 2024 or beyond. Voters aren’t looking for governors-turned-influencers selling gimmicky hats they’re looking for real answers.

Gavin Newsom may think he's setting the tone for a 2028 presidential bid, but even his own party sees through the act. While he’s busy aping Trump online, Democrat strongholds are crumbling, voter rolls are shrinking, and moderates are fleeing the party in droves.

It’s no surprise that the only people praising Newsom’s behavior are MSNBC columnists and late-night comedians. But outside that echo chamber, even seasoned Democrats like Brazile know the stakes are too high for amateur-hour political cosplay.

Serious times call for serious leadership and Newsom isn’t it.

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