US Vice President JD Vance has again criticised California Governor Gavin Newsom’s new social media strategy, saying his attempt to copy President Donald Trump’s style lacks authenticity.In an interview with Fox News host Will Cain, Vance argued that Newsom cannot replicate Trump’s appeal. “He’s trying to be a fake copy of Trump and it just doesn’t work. You can’t mimic the king. You can’t mimic the master; you ought to just go and be yourself. And I think the people would like that a lot more than a cheap imitation of the president of the United States,” he said.The comments follow a string of posts from Newsom’s press office in August that mirrored Trump’s online persona — using capital letters, mocking nicknames and emphatic sign-offs. One viral post declared, “WOW! TOMORROW HISTORY WILL BE MADE… DONALD ‘THE FAILURE’ TRUMP BE WARNED, TOMORROW MAY BE THE WORST DAY OF YOUR LIFE. LIBERATION DAY FOR AMERICA!!! — GCN.”Cain noted that the approach may be resonating with Democrats, pointing to a Morning Consult poll showing Newsom’s support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents rose by eight points between June and late August.However, Vance dismissed the tactic as inauthentic. “When I see Gavin Newsom trying to act like Donald Trump, that’s the opposite of authenticity. He’s not trying to be Gavin Newsom — whoever that is. He’s trying to be a fake carbon copy of Donald Trump, and it just doesn’t work,” he said.Vance emphasised that Trump’s enduring influence comes from being genuine. “The lesson of President Trump in American politics is you’ve got to be authentic to yourself,” he added. “People liked his posts because they spoke to his authenticity. With Newsom, it’s a cheap replication.”Newsom defended his approach earlier this month, saying he wanted to highlight the double standards around Trump’s social media behaviour. “I’m sort of following his example,” he said in a press conference, according to The Wrap. “If you’ve got issues with what I’m putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns about what he’s putting out as president.”In an earlier interview, Vance has also warned Democrats more broadly against drawing the wrong lesson from Trump’s success. “This idea that Gavin Newsom is somehow going to mimic Donald Trump’s style — I think that ignores the fundamental genius of President Trump’s political success, which is that he’s authentic,” he said on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle.Vance went further, offering blunt advice, “The autopsy for the Democrats… is stop sounding like crazy people. Don’t be a crazy person. Be authentic.”
