CERES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 16: California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference at Gemperle Orchard on April 16, 2025 in Ceres, California. Governor Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the Trump administration's use of emergency powers to enact sweeping tariffs that hurt states, consumers, and businesses. The tariffs have disrupted supply chains, increased costs for the state and Californians, and inflicted billions in damages on California’s economy, the fifth largest in the world. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Sacramento, California – The political theater between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Trump administration officials took another turn Friday night, when Newsom’s official press office used a slur once tied directly to online trolls to describe White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. The tweet, which went out from the governor’s verified press account, referred to Miller as a “fascist c–k” and accused him of mounting an “assault on democracy” after he criticized a federal judge’s ruling against warrantless immigration arrests.
The post didn’t stop there. It dredged up online rumors about Miller’s wife, Katie—formerly a communications staffer in the Trump administration and now affiliated with Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI. It implied a personal scandal involving her departure from the White House and Musk’s decision to unfollow her on social media. None of this has been verified, but that didn’t stop Newsom’s team from fanning the flames.
“We were inspired by the White House’s use of the term,” said Izzy Gardon, Newsom’s director of communications, in a comment to The Daily Beast—an attempt, presumably, to frame the language as a kind of rhetorical jiu-jitsu. Still, the tweet reads more like a dig from a meme account than an official statement from the office of a sitting governor.
The context here matters. Miller had posted that a federal judge’s decision to block ICE from making arrests without “reasonable suspicion” was “an act of insurrection against the United States and its sovereign people.” Newsom’s office responded: “Sorry the Constitution hurt your feelings, Stephen. Cry harder.”
It’s the latest entry in an ongoing series of public feuds between Newsom and the Trump-aligned right, and while the governor’s supporters may view it as justified pushback, the overall tone increasingly feels like posturing. These exchanges generate plenty of engagement, but little else.
Miller’s allies were quick to fire back. A White House spokesperson, Abigail Jackson, questioned Newsom’s judgment and priorities: “Has Gavin Newscum explained why he protested an ICE operation to rescue kids from labor exploitation at a marijuana farm? Or was he too busy sipping wine in Napa again?”
Newsom has not directly responded, though he has remained active on his personal X account, amplifying his criticisms of federal immigration policy. Hours before the press office’s tweet, he posted video of ICE agents firing tear gas and pepper bullets at a group that included children during a raid in Camarillo. “Trump calls me ‘Newscum’—but he’s the real scum,” Newsom wrote.
Newsom has grown more aggressive in his online presence in recent months, regularly targeting prominent MAGA figures and far-right media. In a reply to “Libs of TikTok,” which asked whether he would condemn an anti-ICE protestor allegedly brandishing a weapon, Newsom wrote: “Of course I condemn any assault on law enforcement, you s— poster. Now do Jan. 6.”
Whether this rhetorical escalation signals a new campaign strategy ahead of a potential 2028 presidential run or simply a reaction to intensifying national polarization remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the tone of American politics continues to drift further into the territory once reserved for internet comment sections and cable news shouting matches.
