California Gov. Gavin Newsom ran through his new strategy of aggressively trolling the Trump administration, during a Friday appearance on the podcast “Pivot with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway.’ 

“This is one of the great grifters of our time. This is just jaw-dropping,” Newsom said, calling out what he described as blatant corruption in Trump’s trade policies and the broader “crony capitalism” taking hold in the country. 

“I mean, that was insanity yesterday at the Cabinet meeting. And [Commerce Secretary Howard] Lutnik [was] talking about socializing and nationalizing companies like Lockheed [Martin]. And you’re worried about [New York mayoral candidate Zohran] Mamdani and some grocery stores?” he said.

“This is serious stuff. And so the graft and the corruption, the self-dealing, is something that we’ll continue to call out,” he continued. “I’m really worried about this country. I think we’ve crossed the red line. I think it is much more acute and profound than many people think, and [I’m] just trying to wake people up. That’s what this is all about: Wake up, everybody.”

In parodying Trump’s style of arrogant and abrasive rhetoric on his social media accounts, Newsom has successfully triggered the right wing. Whether this move Newsom will boost his prospects for the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries remains to be seen. But as a Democratic official and party leader, he’s responding to Trump’s full-scale attack on democracy by sounding every alarm and making sure people are paying attention.