Surprise! Joe Scarborough doesn't like Newsom's trolling of trump

[senseandsensibility]

according to Aaron Rupar on bluesky. I never watch his show (never did), but apparently he went off on Newsom this morning. I don't know if anyone saw it. Anyway, I hope we aren't taking advice from him and all the others who want Dems to disarm and play by the rules while our democracy is attacked.

[CrispyQ]

1. I'd like to see more dems pile on! -nt

[senseandsensibility]

5. Yup

Fortunately, I haven't heard any actual Dems putting Newsom's efforts down. Scarborough wasn't a Dem last I heard.

[PatSeg]

34. Scarborough is/was a Reagan republican

who has become more liberal in recent years, but that republican in him still pops up now and then.

Meanwhile, if Joe doesn't like Newsom's trolling, then perhaps he could come up with some suggestions as to how we should counteract the insanity coming out of this White House. If he doesn't have any better ideas, then perhaps he should just shut up. Newsom is the only one who is really making a big difference.

[hlthe2b]

2. I heard (TuneIn radio) some of it. Usual (old original) Scab BS. Goes off on how bad the Dems are...

Last edited Wed Aug 20, 2025, 05:15 PM - Edit history (1)

have no strategy (even though polls show Dems beating R's) and "don't fight back..." and then excoriates Newsom for taking it to Trump with ridicule (the ONLY thing that works with bullies--my own aside)..

Chris Matthews was likewise on his show but I don't remember if he was part of that segment. No matter--typical RW Bullshit. Scab is even worse when Mika isn't there (no idea where she was) but Willy--who seems to have SOME common sense never reins him in.

[hlthe2b]

6. Oh, and Scab was comparing it to a prize fighter calling out Ali to fight, rather than someone of his

class--right off the bat or some such bullshit and saying Newsom instead should be calling out R's up for reelection and using "professional" debate around economic policies on behalf of the party (well, given he's not in Congress--nor running, that seems a bit illogical, not to mention it would get exactly zero media attention AND Newsom's fight is with Trump RIGHT NOW0.

At any rate, it was just old school Joe Scab, who continues to try to kiss Trump's ample derriere from his MSNBC perch.

[senseandsensibility]

8. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Matthews agreed with Joe

and criticized Newsom.

[PCIntern]

3. Rules?

Skip to 1:50 for the relevant quote. Otherwise, enjoy the clip:

https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/s/YQincdgZd8

[Just_Vote_Dem]

4. Scab-ourgh shows his true colors again n/t

[UpInArms]

7. Joe who?

[Botany]

40. The same Joe who sold out America and helped install w bush as POTUS in 2000 with bush v Gore

He is a bag of malignant rat feces. The Republicans in Florida were well aware of
vote count with in a day or so of the election in 2,000.

“ When Someone Shows You Who They Are, Believe Them.” Maya Angelou.

[Scrivener7]

9. Every time we get something that works, Joe hates it. People should learn from that.

He didn't like "weird and smelly" either, which frankly, would have won us the election if we had let it ride and given Walz free rein on messaging.

Joe is an idiot and a republiQan.

[senseandsensibility]

10. It's almost like he's not arguing in good faith

if I understand your point correctly? Yeah, there's a reason I have never watched him.

[Scrivener7]

17. You know ... now that you mention it ...

[Scubamatt]

31. It seemed to me

that we were getting traction with "weird" and then it . . . just . . . stopped.

[Scrivener7]

32. Yep. Some MBA had a focus group and believed it.

[SocialDemocrat61]

11. And they fired Joy Reid instead

of this boot licker. 🤦‍♂️

[CTyankee]

12. Oh, that's just ole Joe, trying to drum up some business on his show. He goes off on anybody to get people talking like

we are and thereby promote his show.

[Keepthesoulalive]

27. He gets nothing in terms of ratings

Because I don’t watch him , he ain’t on our side.

[republianmushroom]

13. Joe can sit on it while he pounds sand.

Go, Newsom.

[vapor2]

20. I quit watching Joe and Mika when they kissed the ass of a racist

I think Newsom's trolling is hilarious

[republianmushroom]

21. I do enjoy Newsom's trolling.

[otchmoson]

36. Me too!

I used to start my day with Mike & Joe. Sometimes Scab was intolerable, but the program had some good guests that expanded by world a bit. But when I learned they had trotted off to MaraLardo to kiss the ring (or was it something other than a ring), I found podcasts and YouTube news snippets that were actually better. Since then, I watch Deadline White House from 4-6, and catch Rachel's show (from preceding evening) on Tuesday morning.

[spanone]

14. He's also all for the military in DC.

Eff him.

[Scrivener7]

18. Seriously?? What a creep.

[Cha]

33. Oh, he likes the Restaurants & Bars

hurting so bad for business?

fucking idiot.

[hannah]

41. Yup

Covering for Trump cause he doesn’t want Trump to talk about ME Michael Berkland. And the so called accident in his office.

[hatrack]

15. Joe Scarborough can go shit in his hat . . . .

[Moostache]

19. And then promptly wear it! (n/t)

[hannah]

28. Right

Conservatives have no sense of humor, so they don’t get Newsom trolling. I can predict every show Joe and Mika do.
Israel, Ukraine, bash Democrats, sports, Cover for Trump. Repeat for 4 hours .Demented Chris Matthew’s, and other pro Republican jackasses also contribute. If a normal left of right talks, idiot Joe talks over them. Can’t watch anymore , but I use to. Why do these pundits on Ms or MSNBC have to read Dumps tweets. Let him say it to the American people

[Bev54]

16. Maybe Newsome or someone else should start troll posting Joe as well.

whiney bitch flipflopper.

[Tribetime]

22. Haven't watched him since he kissed the ring he's an asshole

[LetMyPeopleVote]

23. Who cares?

I stopped watching this asshole after the trip to Mar-a-Lago

[EarlG]

24. I'll admit, the first time I saw Newsom doing the all-caps tweet thing, I did think to myself

"Dude, are you sure you want to go down this road?" But since his social media team has been hammering this every day, I'm starting to see the value in it. For me it was two things -- first, when Newsom was asked about his all-caps tweets by a reporter, he said (paraphrasing), "If you think this is unacceptable coming from me, then you should also think that it's unacceptable when it comes from the president." And then I read that Fox News had been whining about the all-caps tweets too, and I thought, this is actually effective. It really does put a spotlight on Trump's shitty behavior.

It's not that Newsom wants to govern by tweeting in all-caps and posting stupid AI memes of himself with Jesus standing behind him -- but by juxtaposing himself against Trump, he's taking away a lot of Trump's power when Trump does this. Newsom's correct in that if people find what he's doing unacceptable or lacking gravitas or whatever, then they should also find it unacceptable when Trump does it. He's ridiculing Trump by copying his style, and I think that helps to make Trump look smaller when he does it himself.

And to be honest, these days I'll take anything that even remotely looks like it's working...

[senseandsensibility]

25. That's about where I am on this

I understood the parody aspect of it intuitively, but I am not the target audience for this kind of thing. I never read trump's stupid posts (although I am exposed to them somehow), so I recognized the style. But I would be lying if I said that I find Newsom's take offs hilarious. Still, like I said, I am not the target audience. Newsom is finding a new audience and that's what we need!

[EarlG]

29. I'll be honest, I do find many of them kinda funny too

But for me the real value is not in the entertainment factor as much as it is in the way that it holds up a mirror to Trump's shitty behavior, and sort of recontextualizes that behavior. In these crazy times when it seems like anything goes, I think Newsom's current strategy does help to make people remember that Trump's behavior is weird and shouldn't be considered normal.

[kimbutgar]

26. He has low ratings now wait until they go lower and it becomes a financial drain on MSnow when they lose advertisers .

On his show

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

30. Fuck that collaborator!

[Puppyjive]

35. I'm not playing nice anymore

Repubs are horrible people and I no longer can be nice. I call them out on their bullshit and hypocrisy.

[Picaro]

37. Never watched this idiot

Joe has ZERO credibility.

No one cares what he thinks.

[BidenRocks]

38. With MSNOW, now's the time

to kick those ass kissers to the curb.

Brink back Keith!

[angrychair]

39. Scab is a Nazi bootlicker

Who ran down to Florida to kiss the ring...of Mango Mussolini's butt.

[SocialDemocrat61]

46. He's the Neville Chamberlain

of cable hosts

[LetMyPeopleVote]

42. MaddowBlog-Conservative critics of Gavin Newsom's social media feed appear to miss the point

To criticize the governor's content as childish, foolish and unserious is to necessarily criticize Trump’s content as childish, foolish and unserious.

Conservative critics of Gavin Newsom’s social media feed appear to miss the point
To criticize the governor's content as childish, foolish and unserious is to necessarily criticize Trump’s content as childish, foolish and unserious.

www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Philly Joe (@joehick58.bsky.social) 2025-08-20T21:16:13.252Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/conservative-critics-gavin-newsoms-social-media-feed-appear-miss-point-rcna225905

The content is deliberately rude, brash, self-aggrandizing and insulting — because it’s satirizing the president who uses his own social media platform to push rude, brash, self-aggrandizing and insulting content.

Some of Newsom’s conservative critics appear to be missing the point of the effort.

One Fox News host complained late last week that the governor’s online content “comes across as childish” and seems unbecoming of someone who’s “the governor of the biggest state in the union.” As HuffPost noted, a different Fox News host kept this going earlier this week.

‘You have to stop it with the Twitter thing,’ [former White House press secretary Dana] Perino said, before adding: ‘I don’t know where his wife is.’ ... ‘If I were [Newsom’s] wife, I would say, ‘You are making a fool of yourself, stop it’ … He’s got a big job as governor of California, but if he wants an even bigger job, he has to be a little bit more serious.’

.....In keeping with the shtick, Newsom’s office published a follow-up item specifically responding to the Fox News co-host’s criticism in the same way Trump tends to respond to his own media critics.

Link to tweet

.....Whether the right understands this or not, to criticize Team Newsom’s content as childish, foolish and fundamentally unserious is to necessarily criticize Trump’s content as childish, foolish and fundamentally unserious since the former emulates the latter.

A Politico report summarized the developments this way: “With an inescapable, smashmouth, all-caps-laden and meme-filled X account, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is holding a mirror up to MAGA — and MAGA doesn’t like what it sees.”

Or as the governor’s office put it, “ALMOST A WEEK IN AND THEY STILL DON’T GET IT.”

[Hornedfrog2000]

43. I dont like people who bend over for fascists.

Joe Scarborough, another one of msnbcs phony journalists, talking heads, or whatever, called up trump to kiss his ass after the election. Why is he on MSNBC? Why do they keep putting republican rejects on their network?

[fujiyamasan]

44. Loser on "MSNOW" says what?

Sorry, but I’m finding Newsom’s tweets to be a blast.

I don’t know if it’s working to improve the overall view of the party, but it’s clear that it’s the only response to Trump that’s actually getting any attention.

Look, Dems can issue as many bullet point laden policy papers as they want, and the leaders have for years, and guess what?… Trump still came back to power.

Hell, we have leadership that can’t even capitalize on Trump being best buds (and likely is one himself) with a pedophile (“it’s a distraction” according to our esteemed emeritus speaker).

Bring on more Newsom. If this was about ethics and policy Trump would be in prison. Newsom’s team understands the state of American politics. It’s ugly and wretched and twisted, much like the GOP.

They go low, we fight in the sewers. They won’t expect attacks from below.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

45. Top Trump ally concedes Gavin Newsom's major social blitz is starting to sting

trump does not have a sense of humor and hates to be mocked. Newsom is hitting trump where it hurts

Top Trump ally concedes Gavin Newsom's major social blitz is starting to sting

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2025-08-20T12:11:17Z

https://www.rawstory.com/gavin-newsom-2673903866

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been on a social media frenzy over the past several days trolling President Donald Trump by evoking his writing style in several posts, and while the strategy has been mocked by some conservative critics, even some MAGA heavyweights are admitting the social media blitz is starting to sting.

“He’s no Trump, but if you look at the Democratic Party, he's at least getting up there, and he's trying to imitate a Trumpian vision of fighting,” said Steve Bannon, former White House chief of staff under Trump and host of the alt-right podcast War Room, speaking with Politico Wednesday.

“He looks like the only person in the Democratic Party who is organizing a fight that they feel they can win. People in the MAGA movement and the America First movement should start paying attention to this, because it’s not going to go away, they’re only going to get more intense.”

Newsom’s posts have been varied, but generally target Trump and his administration, and in a manner mirroring Trump’s syntax and capitalization style. Among Newsom’s most viral recent posts include the reposting of an image depicting him on Mount Rushmore, and the posting of an image generated with generative artificial intelligence depicting him praying while surrounded by pro-Trump figures Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock and the late Hulk Hogan.

[Bristlecone]

47. F that Twerp.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

48. Nicolle Wallace howls at MAGA's 'melting snowflakes' angry over Newsom trolling

This made me smile

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is having a moment as his mockery of President Donald Trump's social media posts has sent Republicans flying into a rage.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2025-08-20T22:01:04Z

https://www.rawstory.com/gavin-newsom-maga/

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is having a moment as his mockery of President Donald Trump's social media posts has sent Republicans flying into a rage.

MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace showcased some of Newsom's social media posts that adopt the style of Trump's all-caps rants, calling his foes "not hot" and needling Trump supporters. Meanwhile, scores of Newsom allies have started making AI photos of the governor similar to the Trump Trading Cards, showcasing the president as a superhero, war hero, and being touched by the hands of Jesus Christ.

She played clips of Fox News hosts who called it unprofessional and attention-seeking, completely missing that they're the ones who are being ridiculed......

Wagner and Wallace noted that humor "is Trump's kryptonite."

One question Wallace asked, however, is how it took nine years to realize that mocking Trump is a tactic.....

Dowd, a former strategist for George W. Bush's campaign, brought up how confused Fox News hosts are.

"That's my favorite part of the story!" she laughed hysterically.