Gavin Newsom Scares The Crap Out Of Me

But is he actually fooling anyone?

Culture doesn’t follow politics. Politics follows culture. President Trump wasn’t a politician who became a cultural figure, he was a cultural figure who essentially tweeted his way into politics.

The way we talk, the jokes we make, the trends and ideas that dominate the feed, that is the soil that politics grows out of. That’s why the fight for attention online isn’t just noise, it’s the battleground. Whoever shapes culture first, wins politics later.

Which brings us to Gavin Newsom, Governor of California. And here’s why this matters: California is the battleground for our future. Rarely what happens in California, stays in California, because of its sheer size and influence.

He’s catching a lot of flak right now from conservatives and liberals alike for posting on X in a style that’s ripped straight from President Trump. It’s sharp, trolling, and completely chaotic. But they’re missing the bigger picture, this isn’t about politics at all, it’s about culture. And in culture, style beats substance every single time.

Fox News calls it ‘Poor Man’s MAGA’, saying he should ‘respect his office’ instead of chasing attention. And they are right to point out the difference. When President Trump posted like this, it was authentic, raw, honest, and himself. When Newsom does it, it’s an act, a performance. A theatrical release designed to mimic what’s already working, a signal that tells the algorithm that what’s worked in the past, will work today.

Trump didn’t take over the political arena because he was a sitting senator and wrote awesome op-eds in the Washington Post. He won because he understood the new battleground. Politics today isn’t fought in committee rooms or on cable news panels. It’s fought in the feeds, on podcasts, and on internet shows. Whoever dominates attention, shapes the conversation. And for years, Democrats have lagged behind, playing polite while Republicans went scorched earth online.

Newsom, for all his flaws, seems to recognize that attention is the currency. Trump obviously didn’t invent trolling, but he nonetheless turned it into a political weapon to his advantage. And that changed the world. Now, Democrats are desperately trying to recapture a fleeting audience.

And let’s not ignore the backdrop here, because this matters: Democrats are sinking. Poll after poll shows the party hitting new lows. That desperation makes the search for someone who can actually command attention, not just significant, but their only strategy for survival. Let me know what you think about this.

Every time Newsom posts like this, he forces people to react to him. Reporters amplify it. Conservatives rage-quote it. And then? Regular people see it… That’s power. That’s how you set the narrative. While other Democrats are stuck waiting for legacy media to “frame” their message on CNN, Newsom is bypassing all of that and getting straight to the people.

And this isn’t me praising Newsom, it’s me pointing out that even his party knows that President Trump changed the game and they’re trying to catch up. It’s also not an endorsement of Gavin Newsom or how he’s governed California, because there’s plenty to critique there, this is about how culture fuels the politics we all end up living in.

Because it’s not about whether you agree with him or not, it’s about whether he’s shifting the rules of engagement. And once you admit that raw attention is more valuable than carefully worded press releases, you can’t go back.

The new reality: President Trump showed the world a style of politics that thrives in chaos, viral memes, and out of control text warfare. Most politicians haven’t realized this yet.

Important note: While Newsom is trying, copying isn’t creating. There are builders and there are duplicators. President Trump set the tone because it was authentic and unfiltered, it was who he was. Newsom is simply cosplaying the energy for political gain. Will voters buy the act? Time will tell.

Anyways, whether you love him or hate him, that should tell you something about where the future of politics is headed.

The reality is simple: in 2025, if you don’t dominate attention, you don’t dominate politics.

That’s my take, but I’d love to know yours. If culture really decides politics, what cultural battles should we be fighting first? Drop your thoughts in the comments, and if you want to help me keep building this conversation, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Either way, thanks for being here.