From an unofficial Newsom-linked Twitter/X account:
MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING — AND I AGREE — THAT I, GAVIN C. NEWSOM (AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR) DESERVE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. WHY? BECAUSE OF THE “MOST INCREDIBLE MAPS IN THE HISTORY OF MAPPING” (EVEN COLUMBUS). THESE MAPS WILL END THE “VERY RIGGED” ELECTIONS, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN (MAGA!!!), RETAKE CONGRESS “FOR THE PEOPLE”, AND SAVE DEMOCRACY. NOBODY ELSE COULD HAVE DONE THIS — CERTAINLY NOT THE “SELF-PROCLAIMED” MASTER DEALMAKER DONALD “TACO” TRUMP (TINY HANDS) WHO MISSED “THE DEADLINE” AND LOST (SAD!). PEACE THROUGH MAPS — NO ONE HAS EVER THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE. I AM THE “PEACE TIME” GOVERNOR NOW, STOPPING “POLITICAL WARS” BEFORE THEY START. HARMONY, UNITY, EVEN LOVE. THE NOBEL COMMITTEE HAS GIVEN THIS AWARD TO LESSER PEOPLE FOR MUCH LESS. I, GAVIN C. NEWSOM, ACTUALLY EARNED IT. THE WORLD WILL BE SAFER, KINDER, AND FRANKLY MORE “BEAUTIFUL” BECAUSE OF MY MAPS. GIVE GAVIN THE NOBEL, MANY ARE SAYING. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GCN
I'm sorry, John, but you have been suckered by intentional misinformation. The account you link to is fake. Newsom's actual account is: https://x.com/CAgovernor
ReplyDeleteThere are several details that give away the fact the account you linked is fake, all involving the "Verified" blue check mark.
First off, the "Verified" mark on the account you link to is the wrong color of blue.
Secondly, the account you link, if you hover your mouse over the "Verified" symbol, it highlights the preceding text - this means it is not a separate icon associated with the account, it is an emoji inserted into the account title. Someone put a fake icon in the name of their fake account.
This is further demonstrated by what happens if you -click- on said icon. On the real account, the website displays a small popup info panel telling you that the account is indeed verified, when it was verified, why it was verified, etc. On the fake account, it instead displays a summary panel relating to the account itself, with no confirmation of "Verified" status.
You might also have been suspicious of the extremely out of character writing style, including the all-caps formatting, which are not employed by Newsom in his posts, but which are bizarrely reminiscent of Donald Trump's posting habits. (Make of that what you will, I don't know what to make of it myself.)
I hope you'll edit your post on the main page to reflect all this, and prevent the spread of further misinformation.
Upon reflection, it may be that this was "unintentional" misinformation - it's possible the fake account is intended to be a "parody" account. But either way, the end result is the same - reality being distorted, well meaning people being tricked into believing lies, and social and political turmoil being created for no good reason.
DeleteReading around a bit, this is interesting, because there seems to be an ecosystem of half a dozen Newsom accounts, all reposting each other's stuff, and two of them are the official California governor's account and his campaign account. The one I cited is not official but I am betting is it run by Newsom's team or somebody close to them. Check out what those accounts post; 90% of it is shared. Political reporters on Twitter/X seem to link to them indescriminately if they want, for example, Newsom's speech about his redistricting plan. I think we are looking at a complex, semi-deniable media operation.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe it's just a fanboy. But if so Newsom should hire him.
Reposting content from the actual accounts is a standard tactic to help "camouflage" the fake account, particularly for nefarious purposes and the intentional spreading of misinformation.
DeletePeople are far more likely to fall for the ruse, even if they are somewhat familiar with the real account, if they see a post they recognize from the actual account. "I saw this post the other day", they think, reassuring themselves that this is actually the correct account.
CNN says this stuff really comes from his press office: https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/17/politics/gavin-newsom-california-redistricting
ReplyDeleteIf it really does come from his press office, then why? Does somebody think that they can win by imitating Trumptalk? If so, I'm quite sure they're doomed; only Trump can do this sort Trump patter and win. Is it satire? That seems a little indirect for a successful campaign tactic. They should have made it much more broad and absurd. Is it just Newsom? Well, he's always struck me as a preening narcissist, and I think that opinion is widely shared. But I'm skeptical this reflects any part of his style; he preens, rather than struts.
ReplyDelete