bully tactic

MAGA loves a red cap and boasty T-shirt slogan, but not when it’s coming from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and it looks a lot like the gear they purchased from the Trump Store. So guess what the governor did over the weekend?

After weeks of mocking tweets from Newsom that mimic Trump’s usage of ALL CAPS, multiple exclamation points and memes picturing the 79-year-old as a ripped young man, the governor took the next logical step in his get-under-their-skin campaign and launched his own store for merch, the Patriot Shop.

“THE PATRIOT SHOP IS NOW OPEN!!!” he crowed. “MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING THIS IS THE GREATEST MERCHANDISE EVER MADE. PLEASE ENJOY, AMERICA!”

But how will Newsom’s parody products compete with the president’s monetization of office, a grift that’s made millions selling Trump-themed sneakers, Christmas gift wrap, perfume, cryptocurrency and even guitars?

It starts with a red trucker cap, naturally. The governor’s reads “NEWSOM WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING.” The product’s description includes the explainer: “Humility is overrated.”

Curiously, it was just last week when the president wore a red hat that said, “Trump was right about everything!” and told reporters, “I know Gavin very well. He’s an incompetent guy with a good line of bulls—.”

Also available on Newsom’s clapback merch site is a tank top echoing Trump’s own words about a woman who will never, ever support him: Taylor Swift. “TRUMP IS NOT HOT,” it reads in bold red letters. The product description that follows: “A simple statement of fact.”

Three hours after the launch of the shop, Newsom boasted in an X post: “WOW! $50,000 IN PURCHASES ALREADY!! THANK YOU PATRIOTS!!!” By Monday, sales had doubled, according to a follow-up post.

Fox News coverage of the governor’s latest move in his troll-Trump campaign was low wattage compared with last week, when the conservative news outlet devoted days to Newsom’s “embarrassing” social media antics. How dare he refer to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by Trump’s mean nickname, “Meatball Ron.” That’s the president’s job!

Sunday it appeared Fox was determined not to show any big feelings over Newsom’s new MAGA-inspired line of merch. Will Cain delivered the news with a halting discipline and just a jab or two, calling the governor a “shadow” of their beloved leader. Newsom’s X account still ran with it, thanking Fox News for its coverage of his new cyber store. “Thank you for the promotion of our ‘FANTASTIC’ Patriot Shop, @WillCainShow !!!!!”

The Patriot Shop also lists a “Holy Bible” signed by “America’s Favorite Governor!” for $100, but it’s marked “SOLD OUT!” It harks back to when Trump marketed his own “God Bless the USA” Bible, which included the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. I guess we’ll never know what Newsom might have included in his.

The site also features “The Chosen One” T-shirt, featuring an image of Newsom being prayed over by notable Trump supporters Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock and the late Hulk Hogan. Trump in 2019 declared himself “the chosen one.”

Newsom has been both heralded and chided for turning the president’s bully tactics back on the MAGA elite, but if social media response is any indication, it appears to be one of the few moves from an establishment Democrat that’s energizing the base and gaining attention on a national level. His taste-of-their-own-medicine campaign gained his X press account more than 250,000 new followers in August alone. And Newsom’s change in tactics has been at the top of news feeds for a week.

It appears Trump has clearly been triggered by Newsom. At a recent White House Cabinet meeting, the president said, “You have an incompetent governor in California. Gavin. I know him very well. … He’s a nice guy, looks good. [Imitating Newsom] ‘Hi everybody. How you doing?’ He’s got some strange hand action going on.”

Newsom responded on X, “You really want to have the conversation about hands?”