By John Q. Hosedrinker 
Fox News commentator Dana Perino expressed frustration with California Governor Gavin Newsom’s social media behavior, which mimics Donald Trump’s online antics. Newsom’s parodies, mirroring Trump’s style, aim to highlight the absurdity of the former president’s actions and have successfully provoked strong reactions from Trump’s supporters. This approach underscores a double standard, revealing the sensitivity of Trump’s base to criticisms of his behavior. Ultimately, Newsom’s actions may have revealed that Trump’s supporters are not as impervious to reality as the president’s opponents might believe.
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MAGA World Is So Close to Getting It. The core of the issue seems to be Gavin Newsom’s parodies, which are riling people up, and they don’t quite seem to understand why. It’s a fascinating dynamic, really. Newsom, with his imitations of Trump’s signature style – the bizarre rants, the peculiar capitalizations, and the enthusiastic use of exclamation points – has struck a nerve. He’s crafted memes that are spot-on parodies of things Trump has been feeding his followers for years.
The interesting thing is that the proof of Newsom’s effectiveness is in the visceral reaction from Trump supporters. They’re genuinely enraged. Why? Because satire, as it turns out, can be far more potent than direct insults. Calling Trump “Mango Mussolini” or “Cheeto Jesus” might resonate with his opponents, but it’s not the same as a mirror held up to their own hero. Newsom’s parodies essentially force people to confront what Trump looks like to the rest of the world. This method seems to bypass the typical defenses.
The real problem isn’t just the content of Trump’s statements, it’s the double standard. The national press, and the public in general, have excused his deeply concerning behavior as just part of the act. Reporters often engage in “sane-washing,” trying to make sense of the nonsensical. They focus on occasional policy-related phrases while ignoring the wilder, more troubling aspects of his rhetoric. Newsom’s parodies cut through all of that. They show, rather than explain, what it feels like when anyone but Trump acts the way Trump does.
The reactions are telling. We see it from people like Dana Perino, and also from J.D. Vance, who dismisses Newsom’s efforts as ineffective because they don’t grasp “the fundamental genius of President Trump’s political success, which is that he’s authentic.” It’s a strange defense – that Trump’s antics are real, while Newsom’s are fake. More predictably, the MAGA faithful are up in arms, accusing Newsom of having a “mental breakdown,” with no hint of irony. It seems the folks who pioneered the slogan “Fuck your feelings” are, in fact, quite delicate.
The commentary from Fox News figures, such as Sean Hannity, is also revealing. Hannity tut-tutted Newsom’s “performative confrontational style,” suggesting it might appeal to “the loony radical base” but wouldn’t win elections. The refreshing part? Fox commentators and leading figures in the Trump administration all seem to agree that a politician shouldn’t act like a childish buffoon in public. The key here is that they’re *so close* to getting it.
This raises an important question: do the MAGA faithful actually understand the president’s glaring weaknesses? Perhaps they know, deep down, that many of Trump’s statements are offensive and detached from reality. Maybe they recognize his disordered personality and see him as an embarrassment. For years, these supporters have used various tactics to avoid the pain of cognitive dissonance. They’ve fallen back on “what about” arguments, claimed Trump knows what he’s doing, or that they understand the message beneath the incoherent delivery. Newsom’s parodies strip away those defenses.
What it may come down to is a deep-seated sensitivity to criticism. This is because, in their hearts, many of them already know the truth. They know Trump is often offensive and detached. They know he has a disordered personality. They know, probably more than anything else, that Trump’s daily actions are an embarrassment to his party and the nation. And when Newsom holds up that mirror, it forces them to confront those painful realities, to see what they’ve been trying so hard to avoid. They hate being reminded of these things, because, in truth, they already get it.
This whole dynamic isn’t just about political tactics; it’s about the fundamental psychology of belief and self-justification. It’s about people defending their preferred reality, even when it clashes with the facts. And it’s a stark reminder that sometimes, the most effective way to reach someone isn’t through argument or persuasion, but through the cold, hard light of a well-aimed parody.