‘Meme-lord’ Newsom riles Republicans

WASHINGTON: All-caps hyperbole, wild accusations and idiosyncratic spelling: not just an average Wednesday on Donald Trump's Truth Social feed, but a new digital media strategy for California Governor Gavin Newsom that is delighting Democrats — and riling Republicans.

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Mr Newsom, hotly-tipped for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, has been parodying Mr Trump with a series of posts written in the Republican leader's distinct style that he hopes will show his party how to beat the social media master at his own game.

In recent weeks the governor has posted all manner of manipulated images depicting him in the kind of over-the-top vignettes popular among Mr Trump's “Maga” movement — superimposing his face on Mount Rushmore and appearing to pray with Maga favourites Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock and Hulk Hogan.

When Mr Trump's one-word weekend post — saying simply “Bela” — left the president's supporters scratching their heads, Mr Newsom posted a screenshot alongside his own caption: “DONALD (TINY HANDS), HAS WRITTEN HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY THIS MORNING — UNFORTUNATELY (LOW IQ) HE SPELLED IT WRONG —‘BETA.”

The 57-year-old Democrat mocked Mr Trump's salesman-like rhetorical style in a post about redistricting plans that he said had led “MANY” people to call him “GAVIN CHRISTOPHER ‘COLUMBUS’ NEWSOM (BECAUSE OF THE MAPS!)”.