California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has joked that people appear to confuse him with God. The statement appeared on his press office account, which he has devoted to attempts to parody President Donald Trump.
Newsom was responding to a meme posted by a fan in response to a different post in which the governor mocked what he called “California Derangement Syndrome,” an attempt to appropriate the term “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” referring to extreme and unreasonable criticisms of the Republican president.
Newsom’s parodies appear to appeal to Democrats, who interpret it as a mirror image of Trump’s hyperbolic and aggressive posts on his own social media network, Truth Social, as well as other media, including X.
Trump’s posts, however, often have a policy purpose beyond mere abuse or braggadocio; and he is usually (and uncharacteristically) humble when it comes to religion. Earlier this week, for example, Trump told reporters that he did not think he would be admitted to Heaven, despite negotiating peace in Gaza.
Democrats, especially Newsom, have been accused of insensitivity to people with a serious commitment to religious faith. During the coronavirus pandemic, Newsom infamously closed churches and even banned religious gatherings in private homes. These bans were later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court as impermissible violations of the First Amendment’s freedom of religion.
Newsom also recently mocked Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “dumb and dumber” as they celebrated the release of the Israeli hostages and the end of the war in Gaza; he later deleted the post after significant public criticism.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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