Comedian and late-night talk show host Bill Maher criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) for seemingly imitating President Donald Trump and mimicking his actions.
“Many people would say that you are imitating him,” Maher said on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday.
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“Among all the people that may or may not be running, you’re the one who kind of imitates his style with the trolling,” Maher continued.
On Tuesday, Newsom’s press office appeared to mock Trump’s limited-edition passports in honor of the United States’s 250th birthday.
The post on X featured a driver’s license similar to Trump’s passport, and followed Trump’s style of posting – writing in all caps, and signing in some variation of “President DONALD J. TRUMP” or “President DJT.”
Maher also called out Newsom for his defamation suit against Fox News.
“You’re suing Fox now, I understand,” Maher said. “That sounds exactly like what he [Trump] does, suing [the] media.”
Newsom skated past the comments, saying, “Well, then don’t defame, don’t lie.”
“But that does sound like him [Trump],” Maher argued.
Newsom filed a lawsuit against Fox News in 2025. He alleged the network misconstrued a phone call he had with Trump.
“Here’s the point, I’m trying to put a mirror up to Donald Trump,” Newsom said. “And I think it’s important with a sense of humor as well.”
He asserted that Trump’s presidency is so abnormal and unparalleled that he’s trying to bring light to it.
“This is a guy cosplaying as the pope, dressing up as Jesus, this guy putting his face on Mount Rushmore,” Newsom said.
“When I first started doing this, the folks on Fox said, ‘Oh, this is so unbecoming of the governor of California. He should wash out his mouth with soap and water,’ with no situational awareness that their dear leader has been doing this for years and years and years. He’s a manchild,” Newsom said.
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Newsom said he is trying to provide a reflection of the “absurdity of all of this.”
“I think it’s important to call that out, the dignity of the president of the United States.”
