Bill Maher recently issued a blunt response to California Governor Gavin Newsom‘s “trolling” of President Donald Trump on social media.
On the August 22 episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, the host, 69, weighed in on Newsom’s unconventional approach to his X posts: mocking 79-year-old Trump’s all-caps messages and signature way of writing.
“Gavin Newsom is now trolling Trump. I’ve never seen a Democrat do this,” Maher said on his late-night HBO show. “I think it’s very funny.”
Starting in August, Newsom, 57, has gone viral online for his X updates declaring himself “AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR,” giving over-the-top nicknames to Republican politicians and Fox News hosts, and more.
“He’s imitating Trump’s exact style,” Maher pointed out.
One post on X from the Governor Newsom Press Office X account reads: “DONALD TRUMP, THE LOWEST POLLING PRESIDENT IN RECENT HISTORY, THIS IS YOUR SECOND-TO-LAST WARNING!!! STAND DOWN NOW OR CALIFORNIA WILL COUNTER-STRIKE (LEGALLY!) TO DESTROY YOUR ILLEGAL CROOKED MAPS IN RED STATES.”
Meanwhile, an X post from August 16 reads: “NOT EVEN JD “JUST DANCE” VANCE CAN SAVE TRUMP FROM THE DISASTROUS MAPS “WAR” HE HAS STARTED. NOT EVEN HIS EYELINER LINES LOOK AS PRETTY AS CALIFORNIA “MAP” LINES. HE WILL FAIL, AS HE ALWAYS DOES (SAD!) AND I, THE PEACETIME GOVERNOR — OUR NATION’S FAVORITE — WILL SAVE AMERICA ONCE AGAIN. MANY ARE NOW CALLING ME GAVIN CHRISTOPHER “COLUMBUS” NEWSOM (BECAUSE OF THE MAPS!). THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN”
“I feel like Gavin has grasped the essential thing about American culture in this day and age,” Maher declared. “Don’t try to outsmart people. You have to outstupid them.”
“It doesn’t bode well for the direction we’re headed,” panelist Frank Bruni replied, while conceding it’s “bringing a lot of attention to Gavin Newsom.”
Bruni continued, “At least it’s something kind of bold, which Democrats haven’t done a lot of. But I’m not sure it’s smart. Since Donald Trump came down the escalator in 2015, Democrats have been mocking him and belittling him as a strategy. And we’re now in the second Trump presidency. I don’t think this is the way to go.”
Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays, 10/9c, HBO