For nearly a year, California Governor Gavin Newsom has been openly taunting and lampooning President Donald Trump and his associate, Vice President JD Vance.
And while it’s widely known that Newsom isn’t a supporter of the Trump administration or its controversial policies, the potential leading Democratic candidate for the 2028 race didn’t hold back during an interview with MS Now, where he blisteringly labeled Vance as “a unique fraud” and “more dangerous” than Trump.
The day after Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address in history, Newsom sat down with host Jen Psaki for a wide-ranging conversation on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
“There are some people waiting in the wings in the MAGA world who would love to be the chosen ones of the Trump orbit. JD Vance is one of them. Marco Rubio is one of them. Do you think they can carry on the MAGA flame here?” Psaki asked.
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Newsom was thoughtful yet pointed in his reply.
“No, but Vance, for whatever reason, scares me,” Newsom admitted. “Almost more than Trump.”
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“Why?” Psaki pressed.
“I don’t know. I just, I mean, talk about a guy who put a mask on and his face grew into it,” the governor bluntly stated.
“I mean, JD Vance and Marco Rubio were two of the most effective critics, just like that guy, what’s his name? Graham Lindsey, of Donald Trump,” Newsom continued before declaring, “What frauds, what phonies, but JD is a unique fraud and phony, and he’s a little more dangerous.”
Social media users joined in with agreement.
“This is so true. JD lies more smoothly than Trump,” contended one Threads user.
Threads user WinterMint2022 offered a more pointed explanation for why Vance unsettles many Americans:
“He scares you because he has no morals. He’ll hop onto any bandwagon or any idea as long as it keeps him in power. … We know Trump is a narcissist and ultimately just wants his ego catered to. As unpleasant as that is, we can justify it. Vance makes no sense, lacking integrity, and morals.”
Another Threads commenter offered a similar critique of Vance’s moral fiber or lack thereof:
“He’s absolutely correct. Vance is a covert sociopath. He lacks a true sense of self, suffering from a deep identity crisis that has extended into adulthood. That absence of identity makes him highly susceptible to influence because he lacks real values.”
Vance was formerly a firm critic of Trump, a self-described never-Trumper, along with other Republicans who later aligned with him.
Vance, the Ivy League–educated author of the best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” once referred to Trump as “cultural heroin” and a promoter of falsehoods and hollow promises to America’s middle class, according to The New York Times.
During Trump’s first term, Vance also labeled him “America’s Hitler” and an “idiot,” as reported by Politico. He added in a 2016 interview, “I never liked him.”
Yet by 2021, as he sought an Ohio Senate seat, Vance had submitted to Trump’s orbit, apologizing profusely and crawling to win the president’s favor. The strategy paid off; by 2024, Trump selected Vance as his running mate.
Newsom also drew attention to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, both of whom had once been vehement never-Trumpers and are now close accomplices in the MAGA ecosystem.
Both figures have records of sharply criticizing Trump for years before discarding any moral reservations or scruples to become among his most loyal adherents.
