California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office and OutKick founder Clay Travis have seemingly begun engaging in a war of words on X — and through one round, Travis appears to have the upper hand.
Hours before Sunday’s showdown between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots kicked off in Santa Clara, Calif., Newsom’s press office shared a screenshot of an OutKick article titled, “Gavin Newsom names Super Bowl Sunday ‘Bad Bunny Day,’ In Latest California Humiliation.” The story also reads, “Governor’s pathetic press office account declares Sunday as ‘Bad Bunny Day’ in latest failed trolling effort.”
The account in question, which has nearly 700,000 followers, tried channeling President Donald Trump in its official response. Newsom’s press office called OutKick a “very-low rated MAGA blog” and inaccurately claimed that Tomi Lahren, not Travis, runs the site.
“I WISH THIS SAD LITTLE RAG ‘WELL,’” the account wrote. “I’M SURE THEY’LL BE VERY BUSY WATCHING ‘KID ROCK’ PERFORM FOR 35 PEOPLE, THREE SCOOTERS, AND A CONFUSED NURSE AT TRUMP’S GOLDEN MEADOWS RETIREMENT FACILITY IN FLORIDA. HOPEFULLY NO CHILDREN PRESENT!!!”
THE VERY LOW-RATED MAGA BLOG “OUTKICK,” RUN BY TOMI “TOILET” LAHREN (NOBODY FLUSHES FASTER!), IS HAVING A TOTAL MELTDOWN BECAUSE TOMORROW WE CELEBRATE “BAD BUNNY DAY” ACROSS CALIFORNIA AND, FRANKLY, “THE WORLD” BECAUSE OF ME, GAVIN C. NEWSOM, AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR. I WISH… pic.twitter.com/fBRTQLu2bd
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) February 8, 2026
The part about “hopefully no children present” is likely a reference to Trump’s alleged involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with Epstein to abuse minors, said that she’ll clear Trump’s name of any wrongdoing if the president grants her clemency.
Travis, a Fox News contributor, fired back on Monday afternoon, thanking Newsom for visiting OutKick.
“We’re the sports site that doesn’t believe boys pretending to be girls should be able to win state championships in California,” Travis wrote on X. “Most of your constituents agree with us.”
Travis might not be wrong. According to Fox’s official website, Democrats make up 36% of OutKick’s traffic, well above Republicans (31%) and independent voters (27%).
Either way, we’re not sure what the Newsom press office was thinking here. Newsom is one of the early favorites to be the Democratic nominee in the 2028 election, yet his administration is trying to imitate Trump and his reputation for loud, rambling social media posts. The reference to Tomi “Toilet” Lahren, along with the comment “Nobody flushes faster!” is nothing short of bizarre.
Thanks for reading, @CAgovernor, you should check us out more often — we’re the sports site that doesn’t believe boys pretending to be girls should be able to win state championships in California. Most of your constituents agree with us. https://t.co/HiLipljCgn
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) February 9, 2026
There’s also the thinly-veiled reference to the Epstein Files. Unfortunately, social media users on all sides continue treating the Epstein Files as a meme or a way to mock celebrities. There should be higher expectations for anyone involved in political office.
We don’t get it. Maybe there’s something obvious that we’re missing. One would think that the Newsom Administration would want to create the impression that they’re better and more professional than the Trump Administration, though that clearly isn’t the case here.
All in all, we’re counting this as a victory for Travis and OutKick. If anything, Newsom’s press office may have just sent more potential readers to OutKick.
