Gavin Newsom’s desperate bid to claim the ‘new Trump’ mantle is falling flat

Gavin Newsom wants to be the new Donald Trump.

No, California’s governor isn’t moving to the right or cracking down on illegal immigration — quite the opposite.

On Monday the White House blasted Newsom for offering commercial drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens like Harjinder Singh, the trucker accused of killing three people on the Florida Turnpike last week.

Singh was free to make his deadly rogue U-turn thanks to “the so-called ‘sanctuary state’ of California,” the White House railed.

Newsom is the anti-Trump as far as the safety of America’s roads and the integrity of our immigration system are concerned.

But the governor has been quicker than most Democrats to realize it takes a Trump to compete with Trump — someone who’s willing to play hardball politics the same way Trump does, and projects an aura of success like the president’s.

Newsom even understands the need to reach Trump voters, which he’s tried to do by featuring MAGA luminaries like Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon on his personal podcast.

That outreach displeased his fellow Dems — but what he’s up to now is making them much happier.

Newsom’s current crusade is to scrap California’s independent redistricting process in order to gerrymander more seats for his party.

The governor says it’s retaliation for Texas redistricting that favors Republicans — though Democrats already have notoriously unfair congressional maps in places like Illinois and Maryland.

For that matter, California’s present appropriation system, controlled by a commission with equal representation of Democrats, Republicans and independents, already allocates more seats to Democrats than the proportional strength of the two parties in the Golden State suggests is just.

California in fact has more registered Republicans than any other state in the nation (though Florida is catching up).

There are almost 5.8 million Republicans in California, amounting to more than 25% of registered voters — but the GOP holds only nine of the state’s 52 congressional seats.

Newsom’s redistricting scheme would slash the GOP’s representation by five seats.

It’s obscenely unfair to the people of California, about a quarter of whom are Republicans, but Newsom is framing the move in terms of national politics: “Donald Trump, you have poked the bear and we will punch back,” the governor said at a recent rally.

Newsom is doing what’s best for his presidential ambitions, regardless of whether it’s good for California. 

He wants to be seen as the only Democrat who can stand up to Trump.

Most Californians oppose Newsom’s stunt — by a two-thirds majority, according to a recent Politico poll.

The survey found only 36% of voters support Newsom’s attempt to take redistricting power away from the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission and give it back to the Democrat-controlled state legislature.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, who as governor back in 2008 led the campaign to pass the referendum that created the commission, is making his ire at Newsom’s gerrymandering plot plain.

“F–k the politicians. Terminate gerrymandering,” read a T-shirt worn by the actor-turned-politician in a recent Instagram post.

That slogan speaks for millions of Californians, but Newsom isn’t worried about losing this fight.

Even if voters reject his proposal in a landslide, Newsom still gets to look tough in the eyes of Democrats nationwide.

Image is everything for the telegenic governor right now.

On Elon Musk’s X, Newsom fans have been pushing memes comparing his suave style in high school to JD Vance’s geeky appearance at a similar age.

Another meme, trolling for racial reactions, juxtaposes a picture of Newsom with his blonde wife and four flaxen-haired children against a snapshot of Vance, his Indian-American wife and their kids.

The not-so-subtle message: Newsom is the guy supposedly racist Trump supporters should really admire.

All too many progressives think that claiming to be anti-racist frees them to indulge in race-baiting themselves, if only “ironically.”

The memes, like the aggressive redistricting agenda, are Team Newsom’s idea of fighting fire with fire, using tactics as bold and provocative as Trump’s own to challenge Trump and set the stage for a 2028 contest with Vance.

But Newsom’s attempt to one-up Trump is doubly unsuccessful.

The memes actually make Newsom look worse: Pretentious in high school, versus Vance the normal kid.

And the lovely portrait of Newsom’s family — positive by itself — loses its appeal when it’s used to make an ugly racial insinuation.

As for redistricting, Newsom and his party have a bigger problem than red-state maps.

Under Newsom, California is hemorrhaging population and is on track to forfeit three to five congressional seats after the next census, while Republican-leaning states like Florida and Texas are gaining people and representation.

In the long run, Democratic gerrymandering can’t make up for the demographic consequences of Democratic government like Newsom’s.

Daniel McCarthy is the editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Review and editor-at-large of The American Conservative.