Loading summary
Transcript65 lines
- [00:00]
A
Hello, everyone. This is JVL here with my bulwark colleague, Hannah Yost. And, Hannah, we got you writing today about Gavin Newsom's new Twitter style. He has gone full poster and in what people are calling the dark woke. It's kind of exciting and thrilling, and it sends a tickle up my spine. So, Hannah, it seems like it was just yesterday that Gavin Newsom was standing up a podcast to do outreach to people like Charlie Kirk, and he was getting crapped on by the left for selling out trans kids. And he seems to have abandoned all that, and he has taken on a new vector of attack. Tell me all about it.
- [00:50]
B
Well, it's funny you mentioned the podcast because you and Tim had mentioned that how he is this master of trying different things. And I think it's funny that the left, they're like, we need a sociopath of our own. And then they get mad when he does sociopath things, like, they want their own Joe Rogan. So he goes out and he tries the manosphere thing, and it doesn't work. So then he's. He's back to the drawing board. And that has looked like. Just mimicking Trump. And a lot of people, like, they like it at first. They. They like the, like, oh, my God, wow. Energy. He's trying something new, and he's like, really, really needling the maga. The maga are like, no, that's not cool. He's got Fox News calling him childish. They're freaking out because, like, this is not how a leader is supposed to behave.
- [01:39]
C
For the last week, Gavin Newsom. And why am I giving him advice? You have to stop it with the Twitter thing. I don't know where his wife is. If I were his wife, I would say you are making a fool of yourself. Stop it. Do not. Do not let your staff tweet. And if you're doing it yourself, put the phone away.
- [02:00]
B
Yeah, they're like. They're like. It's like. Okay, so you don't see the joke here. You don't see. Like, that is the point.
- [02:06]
A
So what he's doing, he's. He's coming out in all caps. He's doing the full Trumpian nicknames. Thank you for your attention to this matter. He posted AI generated memes of him on Mount Rushmore. There's one of him being prayed over. Who? It's Tucker and Angel Hulk Hogan. Yeah. Just sort of, you know, laying hands on him. And again, he's just doing a Trump impression. Are you surprised that the Magas are upset about this?
- [02:37]
B
They seem to be, like, myopic, that they can't understand that this is, this is what it sounds like. This is what it looks like to the rest of the world. It's the, the asymmetry. Like, we hold. We hold Democrats to a much higher standard than we hold Trump, and we expect Democr to play on like this, like level, clean, not punching low field. Whereas Trump, Trump can do whatever he wants. Carte blanche. They like, he. They will excuse any bad behavior he does. So last night, the clip of Trump going, oh, I just want to get into heaven over the Russia stuff, all of them were, like, just talking about him as if he was a toddler, talking about him as if he's a child. Like, he has this childlike spirit.
- [03:24]
A
Well, it's really all about getting into heaven. And I think he's kidding, but he's also partially serious. And that's why we love him, because he has this childlike spirit.
- [03:34]
B
And, like, they forgive him. They forgive him for all of his sins, but the Democrats are damned for it if they even go an inch over the line. It is not okay with them.
- [03:47]
A
So I think part of it is that Trump is taken as a force of nature, like he's a hurricane or he's gravity. Like, it just is. And so everybody, both the magas and like, the straight media and even Democrats to a large extent, are just like, well, that's what he does. You know, this is like being mad at a fish for swimming. And yet everybody else is expected to, like, you know, be treated like a normal human being and an adult who has choices and is capable of not acting like an insane person. Is that scan about right to you?
- [04:24]
B
Absolutely. And the, the Democrats have this weird thing where they police their own language, too, way harder than they attack the right. Like, they care way more about Puritans and, like, keeping everyone in line. In a lot of ways, this experiment hearkens back to walls hitting a nerve by calling Vance weird. Yeah, like, I didn't realize that the campaign had told him to drop it, like, ahead of.
- [04:47]
A
No kidding.
- [04:48]
B
Yeah, ahead of the VP debate, everyone was really excited because they thought that we were going to get this confrontation between Vance and Walls. Vance being called weird on the national stage. And he just didn't. They were like, back off. We're going to. We're going to. We're going to get the. We're going to get the centrists on board, and it's going to be okay. We don't have to play dirty.
- [05:08]
A
But have they been up and watching American politics.
- [05:11]
B
Yeah. And like they're. Yeah. Their self policing of language and arbitrary rules of engagement is just really, really hurting them. And so what Newsom is doing, it's kind of. It's invigorated a lot of people on the left, but it's also like, it's kind of devolving away from his intent. Like, his intent is to show people this is. This is nonsense, this is deranged. Like, we should expect better of our leaders. And you do expect better of Democratic leaders.
- [05:38]
A
I feel like the shitposting is kind of useful. I mean, John Federman basically shit. Posted his way into the Senate. I don't know if you remember, but like his entire Senate campaign was basically his Twitter account being run kind of like the Arby's Twitter account. You know, it's like totally wheels off, knowing fourth wall breaking thing. And people just loved it. Do people love this with, with Newsom or not? That's what I can't quite tell. Like. Like, I can't quite tell the. The disposition of forces arrayed against it. You know, like, what percentage of people are like, into it and what percentage of people are not into it.
- [06:17]
B
Yeah, it's hard to tell. Like, a lot of the lives, like, in the middle, they're like, oh, this is. This is fun. He's having fun. And it's like, they get it. And then like, the leftists are like, come on, we're better than this. And then you have the maga, who obviously are willing to like, missing the point and refusing to go along with it. But the problem with it too, though, is that there are people, like, in the middle and who are on his side who also, like, they get it, but not quite really. And they're taking it a little further. And one of the interesting things is that it's kind of shifted to being just like pure attacks on Vance. Like, Vance is like, they're not even strays. They're like, he's in the public eye, so, like, he's gonna get heat. But it's.
- [07:05]
A
I feel like that's great.
- [07:07]
B
Yeah.
- [07:07]
A
Isn't that like the picture of them in high school? Right? There's that tweet with the pictures of super cool high school quarterback Gavin Newsom his senior year and then like, you know, chubby loser Appalachia, JD Vance his senior year put next to each other. It is really. I mean, you know, for one side, which praises manual manliness as the most important thing in the world, uh, that's kind of funny. I don't know. I'm I'm into it. Is it wrong that I'm into Dark woke?
- [07:39]
B
No, I think, I think having any kind of positive energy on the left where they're like, we can, we can fight back is good and healthy and necessary. One of the, the great ironies of watching people on the right try to be like, try to fight back against this. And like, kind of like not being on solid footing is that you have based Mike Lee trying to hit them on like, oh, no, Vance is way more masculine because he was in the military. And it's like, okay. And then, then Lee himself is doing the comparison photos and it's like, aesthetically you're losing that fight. Oh yeah.
- [08:20]
A
Has anybody done the Gavin Newsom as Patrick Bateman thing yet? Because that's the other funny thing is, I mean there is an. Mostly it's the hairstyle.
- [08:29]
C
Yeah.
- [08:29]
A
But the Gavin. Yeah, he looks a little. Right. He does look a little bit like American Psycho. Like the middle aged for the American Psycho.
- [08:39]
B
Well, that's, that's the, that's also part of the problem is that like he's hot. And like, I don't think like the Democrats should be afraid to say that. There is, there is. Like, I've been thinking a lot about the trip Alice of the Weekly Standard. She and I drove out to Detroit for the women's conference. And I've been thinking about like, what happened to all of those women who were like, women, we're going to win. We're going to be the resistance. We're going to get together through community engagement and we're going to be in office and we're going to turn this ship around. That was close to a decade ago. And now the result of that like activation and their eventual downfall from corruption is that the Democrats best hope now is like two white guys. Yeah, it's Gavin Newsome and it's Pete.
- [09:24]
A
Well, let me propose a thought experiment to you that the biggest weakness for Gavin Newsom as a potential Democratic presidential campaign was like, oh, he's just a California liberal. And so his primary identity was going to be like, well, he was the governor of California. California is a liberal state. It's outside of the mainstream. Like, he's just another one of those. And look at him. He's a pretty boy who know, feels like a kind of a used car salesman. But if, if he goes dark woke and like he's just this ruthless sob That's a different brand.
- [10:05]
B
Yeah.
- [10:05]
A
And maybe a more palatable brand.
- [10:07]
B
Yeah, it's a Trump playbook. But like, do we do they want the lefty Trump? Because I do. Like Lauren and I have been talking about that. They do.
- [10:17]
A
What do you think? What do you think?
- [10:19]
B
Laura and I have been talking about it where it's like he, it was always going to hurt him being from California. Like that is like, that's just not going to fly with the rest of the country. So I do think moving away from that to being a more national online figure helps. But I mean, he's been really smart about the way he's been marketing himself. Is like, California has the fourth largest economy in like the world. And talking about like how no he's there. They're not even on the list of top gerrymandered states in the country. But the problem is like people don't really care about the facts anymore. Like we are in that kind of post fact world where it's like it doesn't really matter like how good California actually is. It's just the perception. So I think in the game of perception, Gavin does have a pretty solid playbook here of he's, it's not like he tried the reaching across the aisle to talk to Bannon and talk to Kirk and, and sit down with them. And it just like his, he was pushing away more people than he was gaining.
- [11:19]
A
Yeah, yeah, that's the, I mean, I guess that's a, what he's trying to do is create a different liability for himself and to create a liability which is a strength. Right. Because while he's just the liberal governor of California, then the liability is, well, he's a liberal governor of California. But with this, the liability is he's too tough and too mean. And that's not really a, this is like, you know, tell me your greatest fault. It's like, oh, I just worked too hard and I care too much. Right. Like, oh, well, look at this guy. He's so mean and so aggressive. Well, that's not really a liability anymore in American politics. Right. And I, that's just a question like is, are the Democrats going to decide, yeah, we got to get her on Trump.
- [12:00]
B
And also it's like the visibility problem is that other like the rest of the country doesn't really know him. Part of why Trump won is because everyone in America knew who he was and they liked him, his personality. And that was like, that was true in 2015 when he was running. Is that like he had a major, like he had started on third base while everyone else was had to campaign. Trump didn't have to campaign. So Trump, like what Gavin is doing is closing the gap of becoming a household name and trying to be like it is better to be known for absolutely anything. Like there. He's really leaning into there is no such thing as bad press. Lauren sent this to me too. If you look at the other podcasts that politicians have, it is ted Cruz with 1.5 million monthly downloads, and then there's Gavin with half a million downloads and then it just falls off a cliff. Like most politicians who have a podcast, they only have a few hundred followers or a few hundred listeners. So he is like, he's really working to push his visibility and get his name out there in a way that like, what other Dems are doing that besides Pete?
- [13:09]
A
Yeah, I mean, Newsom is trying. This is the other thing. I mean, traditionally in politics, like, it looks kind of gross to see politicians trying super hard. Right. They'll like try hards. But also voters do kind of respond to that historically. Like, voters want somebody who looks like he or she is trying to get their vote. You know, they don't want somebody who looks like a gentleman jockey. And poor Jeb. Yeah. You know, and like Gavin is super thirsty. I mean, and this guy's been thirsty his whole adult life, right?
- [13:42]
B
Yeah.
- [13:43]
A
I don't know. I mean, look, maybe. Maybe this becomes like the Michael Avenatti boomlet and people look back at it and like, eh, I don't know.
- [13:49]
B
Right. Like that's the danger is like, will he flame out? And it's. When you mentioned the liabilities, there's another. In the midst of all of the flurry of tweets, there was one guy pointing out that they thought the photo of him with Donald Jr's ex, Kimberly Guilfoy. So the photo of them, they're splayed out on the rug, it's very.
- [14:08]
A
Oh, the worst.
- [14:09]
B
Yeah. It's indulgent and decadent. Excuse me. And he was like, I really thought that this would haunt him. And now I'm thinking no, all of these like young gen zers are going to look at this and be like, well, he pulled bitches. And it's like, well, that's one that. That's true. So doesn't matter. Doesn't matter that she's who she is.
- [14:36]
A
It is funny to see that. I mean, so, I mean there are really, I guess like three different approaches happening in the Democratic space right now. One of them is Gavin, who is doing all the things right. I mean, and he is in full. It actually reminds me of FDR after he was first elected, when FDR was like you know, we're just going to do ruthless experimentation and we're going to try everything. And, you know, like, this doesn't work. We'll stop doing it. We'll try that and, you know, anything to get us out of the Depression. And that's what Newsom is doing. Like, you know, whatever's there, he's going to try it because he wants to be president. Then you have Pete, who's just doing the super cerebral, like, hey, maybe I can just talk America into being normal again, because I am the best talker and I have the best words.
- [15:20]
B
Yeah.
- [15:21]
A
And, you know, like, he is a tremendously good talker. He does have, in fact, all of the best words. Know, if anybody can talk America out of decline, it'll be Pete. You have Wes Moore, who is basically just like, oh, it's too soon. Right. You know, I'm gonna sit back and govern. I'm gonna just keep governing. And there's no reason to jump start these things too soon. Which, I mean, is exactly the feeling that, like, Ron DeSantis had. Like, I mean, I just think that is old politics. But maybe not. Maybe it's right. Maybe Westmore will have many powerful things to bring to the table. But.
- [15:56]
B
But we do have these archetypes, right? Yeah. I do think. I do think that it is more important just to get your name out there ahead of time so that people are talking about you. And that's just like, marketing that.
- [16:07]
A
Yeah.
- [16:07]
B
At the end of the day, like, people don't really care how you're governing. Like, it doesn't matter. Like, they don't. They don't want politicians. And there. There is, like, an aspect of Gavin where it's like, he's like what Trump was, what voters think of when they think of a businessman, whereas Gavin is kind of like what voters think of when they think of a politician. But he's not really. He's more of the used car salesman. Like, he's like, he has the same aspirational wealth that Republicans, like, pretend to be like, oh, we're the common man. We're the party of, like, the working class. But they. They want that new wealth style. And Gavin has the old wealth style. Like the photo again, the photo of him with Kimberly Guilfoyle splayed out on the rug.
- [16:52]
A
Yeah, it's the rug. Right. The rug is really the star of that photo in a weird way.
- [16:57]
B
The color, the texture, it's very. It's very rich. And that. That is what they want, that he. Gavin, has the image in a way that like, you can't fake. So I think that, I think that helps him a lot versus Westmore has, has other things going for him. Like he has like the masculinity that they want. If you could like get the two of them together, that would be great.
- [17:20]
A
Yeah. But yeah, I would say the other thing about Newsom is that come 2027, he's not going to have a job and so he will be a full time presidential candidate.
- [17:33]
B
He's running like rent is due. Yeah, right.
- [17:35]
A
You know, and so he'll, he'll be a full time presidential candidate. I mean, this, the shitposting. Once he no longer has an actual job, his shitposting could go to an entirely new level, you know, a level which we really haven't even seen.
- [17:48]
B
And thinking about the images, it's kind of like people don't really remember where they, where something came from. They just remember like the impact of it. So I think, yeah, him putting out these images where it's like he's just, it's like the Trump images where he's just jacked and like he's got the gun and the flag and the eagle and it's all just coming together and it looks like iconography. And I think that that really, really is working and will work.
- [18:14]
A
I am looking forward to someday somebody and maybe it'll be you for all I know. Writing the treatise on the effect of AI slop like iconography, if you call it that in a, like American politics circa 2020, you know, where it's part.
- [18:32]
B
Of the paranoid style. It's, it's right in there. The maga. The right has commandeered it. It is like the fascist style of our time. Absolutely. Yeah. I would like to write that.
- [18:48]
A
Well, I'm excited to see what Dark Woke comes up with as they do our, their own take on this sort of thing. Because I'm sure it'll be great and not at all vaguely terrifying. You know, maybe we'll get two authoritarian parties instead of just one.
- [19:02]
B
Yeah, there, there was one other thing I wanted to talk about.
- [19:06]
A
Yeah.
- [19:07]
B
The gerrymandering. It's like, that's the, like. It's weird for me, having grown up in a conservative household where they had this healthy skepticism of like the government and Reagan's like the worst thing in the world is like the government saying, I'm here, I'm from the government, I'm here to help. But like Texas redrawing the map again, ran like in the middle to consolidate. That's not something you do when you're winning. That's not something you do when, like, things are going well and you think that you're going to hold on to power and control. Like, no, they're. They're like, they, like, am I allowed to say that they're rigging it? Like, because that's. That's what they're doing.
- [19:43]
A
Yeah, they're trying to.
- [19:45]
B
Ahead of the midterms. So.
- [19:46]
A
Yeah. And again, new. Trying to say, okay, well, I guess nobody else is going to have the stones to stand up, so, yeah, sure, you guys do that. We'll rig California. That's. It's interesting. Right? And this is not. Again, it's not the Pete response. It's sure not the Westmore response. Right. Westmore is like, oh, we gotta make sure we take care of all of our rural counties in Maryland and, you know, be good to our MAGA Marylanders, because we're all the same. And Maryland is one of the most.
- [20:16]
B
Scary, mandered states in the country. Fun fact. Fun fact.
- [20:20]
A
Yeah.
- [20:21]
B
Wisconsin is the most. I learned a lot writing this. Yeah.
- [20:25]
A
So. All right, well, I hope you will keep your eyes peeled on Dark Woke. Gavin Newsom. I love the art cooked up for your piece today. People should go to thebullwork.com and subscribe to the Morning Shots newsletter and see what Hannah's got cooking today, because laser eyes. Gavin Newsom is amazing, and I think. I think I want more of it.
- [20:52]
B
I think he's going to give you more.
- [20:54]
A
All right, guys. Good luck, America.