California has 113,000 people sleeping on the streets right now.
That's the backdrop for what Gavin Newsom decided to spend his week doing.
While 113,000 Californians slept outside, Newsom spent his week posting memes about himself.
The Stunt That Tells You Everything
Trump's State Department announced commemorative passports to mark America's 250th anniversary this July.
The passports feature Trump's image on the inside cover – alongside the Declaration of Independence and his signature in gold.
Newsom's response?
His office posted a fake California driver's license with his own photo, mocking the announcement in all caps: "IN HONOR OF CALIFORNIA'S 175TH ANNIVERSARY, WE WILL BE ROLLING OUT A VERY SPECIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE FOR EVERY CALIFORNIAN THIS SUMMER! IT WILL FEATURE A HANDSOME, HIGH-QUALITY PHOTO OF ME, GAVIN C. NEWSOM."
He also posted a mock passport image pairing Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
Then he called Trump a "loser."
https://twitter.com/GovPressOffice/status/2049333646302355849?s=20
Then he suggested he was "making the Democratic Party 'hot' again."
This is what passes for governance in Sacramento.
What Newsom Isn't Doing While He Posts Memes
Newsom has been governor since 2019.
In those seven years, he spent over $27 billion on homelessness.
California still has one-quarter of America's entire homeless population – roughly 187,000 people by the latest federal count.
Two-thirds of them are unsheltered.
That means sidewalks, freeway underpasses, and tent cities – not the shelters and housing that $27 billion was supposed to deliver.
His signature program, Project Homekey, collapsed into a national scandal after a politically connected nonprofit burned through more than $100 million converting seven hotels into apartment buildings that were foreclosed before a single homeless person moved in.
In Los Angeles County, the program pulled in $550 million between 2021 and 2024 to acquire 32 buildings – 71% of which sat vacant as of May 2025 because of construction delays.
Federal prosecutors have charged individuals connected to the program with bank fraud and money laundering.
In his own State of the State address this year, Newsom still had no answer for how he'd fund his next round of homeless promises against a deficit-ridden budget.
The Man Who Became Trump to Beat Trump
Political strategists have been warning Newsom about this for months.
Ryan White, a Republican strategist at Think Big, told the Washington Examiner that Newsom was "overplaying his hand" and called it "somewhat ironic" that Newsom was copying Trump's playbook to fight Trump.
Newsom's own defense? "I'm just following his example."
That's what a man with no answers says.
He started calling Trump "tiny hands" and "low IQ" on social media.
He had his team produce AI memes.
He assigned nicknames to Fox News hosts.
https://twitter.com/GovPressOffice/status/2049663028451557814?s=20
And now he's posting fake driver's licenses featuring his own face while his state racks up the worst homelessness numbers in America.
Newsom knows he can't win on his record.
California's cities are in visible decline – Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento.
Drug overdoses kill nearly three times as many Californians as car accidents.
He closed five state prisons and gutted sentencing guidelines, then watched crime follow.
His constituents are voting with their feet – heading in the largest numbers to the two states he never stops mocking: Texas and Florida.
He's betting that enough Democrats are so desperate for someone – anyone – to punch back at Trump that they'll overlook every California city they can see declining in real time.
Trump's passport celebrates America's 250th birthday.
Newsom's fake driver's license celebrates Gavin Newsom.
The White House said it plainly: Trump "is focused on saving our country – not garnering recognition."
One of them is celebrating America.
The other one is posting memes.
Sources:
- Louis Casiano, "Newsom mocks Trump's limited-edition passport with fake California driver's license," Fox News, April 29, 2026.
- "Trump State Department Unveils Bold New Design for America250 Passports," Fox News, April 28, 2026.
- "US Passports to Get First Redesign in 5 Years, Will Feature Trump's Face," Newsweek, April 29, 2026.
- Christopher J. Calton, "Gavin Newsom Cannot Escape His Embarrassing Legacy on Homelessness," Independent Institute / The American Spectator, May 27, 2025.
- "California: Newsom's 'National Model' for Homeless Wracked by Fraud," RealClearInvestigations, December 11, 2025.
- "Gavin Newsom Social Media Strategy Mocking Trump," Washington Examiner, August 21, 2025.
