Unfortunately for California Governor Gavin Newsom, he recently launched the worst category of clapbacks in politics. What he did boomerang back to him so violently that even meme lords like him were reaching for popcorn.
At The New York Times DealBook Summit, Gavin Newsom walked away with a pose that likely crushed his manhood, at least physically. What was that, you ask? Well, a picture of the governor sitting with his legs aggressively crossed soon went viral. On social media, a user wrote, “Men don’t sit like that.” Another declared, “I have never seen a man crush his t–ticles harder than this dude.”
For most politicians who are in crisis, they usually go silent or throw a spokesperson at the problem. But of course, Gavin Newsom’s team did something else. What came next is definitely not something you should post while being ratioed: his press office uploaded an AI-generated image of the governor twisted into a contortionist circus pose! It was captioned: “Democracy requires flexibility.”
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) December 6, 2025
“Uh… this isn’t the own you think it is,” one user wrote. Another commented, “I’m hoping this account was hacked because there’s NO WAY Gavin would mock himself this bad and hilarious.” Someone explained: “Dude, we’re laughing at you — not with you.”
We are laughing at you not with you
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) December 6, 2025
You’d think that after a PR fail of this proportion, Gavin Newsom’s team would retreat. But no, he reposted the image himself with a “WOW!” Was his strategy to look unfazed? We don’t know, but the replies rolled in: “This is so disturbing and gross.”
And if this gaffe wasn’t enough, Halle Berry said the governor was “[devaluing] women” after he vetoed the Menopause Care Equity Act two years in a row, which she championed. “He probably should not be our next president either,” she warned. Once the internet discovered that all of these Gavin Newsom fails happened on one night, the 58-year-old couldn’t catch a break.
Halle Berry speaks out against California governor Gavin Newsom:
“With the way he’s overlooked women, half the population, by devaluing us in midlife, he probably should not be the next president.”https://t.co/IhAdwZDhtM pic.twitter.com/rd0dMyq07A
— Variety (@Variety) December 3, 2025
To be fair, Newsom did try to clean up later and said he spoke with Berry’s manager and that they are “reconciling.” His spokesperson also said he admired Berry’s advocacy and the vetoes were based on fiscal concerns. But by then the story had galloped away from the man who had been in office since January 7, 20. So there wasn’t a lot of possibility of saving his image.
Ironically, on the DealBook stage, Newsom told the audience the Democratic Party definitely needs to be “less judgmental” and “more culturally normal.” But the meme war definitely did go down well as sound judgment, did it?
NEXT UP: Gavin Newsom Compares Trump Ally Stephen Miller To Voldemort
