Over the past several months, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, has reshaped his online presence into something far from traditional politics, favoring a tone that openly pokes at President Donald Trump in the same unrestrained way Trump uses on Truth Social.
Newsom’s social feeds move fast, lean sharp, and often mirror the tone of the online communities that follow him — anti-Trump, detesting the White House, and ready to move past surface-level outrage.
The frustration isn’t directed at the president alone. For many critics, it extends to Trump’s inner circle — one shaped by enforcement, ideology, loyalty, and profit.
In his comment sections and online threads, he surely reads the recurring grievances surface again and again, from ICE operations and allegations of dishonesty to voter fraud narratives, grifting, rigid agendas, and what detractors describe as a Trump-era version of Christianity.
With this context, Newsom launched a ruthless poll to see just who needs to be fired from the White House staff. Then, he shared the numbers.
“THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN! MORE THAN 30,000 PEOPLE SAY STEPHEN MILLER SHOULD BE FIRED FIRST!” the post read.
Newsom posted after running a poll across X and Threads asking who Trump should fire first.
The official results showed Stephen Miller leading with 58 percent, followed by Kristi Noem at 24 percent, the Monkey Vid Staffer (the unnamed administration person who allegedly posted the video) at 15 percent, and Gestapo Greg [Bovino] at 3 percent, based on 34,845 total votes.
Reactions poured in on Threads. “Since the ‘staffer’ is Trump I’d vote for him to get fired first,” one person wrote.
“To get to trump, we need to go after the low hanging fruit first. Yell, I say it’s time for Miller to go,” another posted.
“What is, all of them for 1billion, Alex?” one comment read, while another says, “Trump won’t fire his lifeline.” Another person simply laughed, “LMFAO.”
Another questioned Trump’s absence from the poll entirely, asking, “Trump should be fired. Why is he not listed on this poll? How does he get out of this? Trump is the cause of all of it,” before arguing that accountability begins with the person who put everyone else in power.
The person added, “He put these people in place, he is the problem and he needs to face accountability. He is covering up [a series of accusations] and he participated in all of it. They are all horrible, but he is the main criminal. He needs to be fired first.”
Those who enjoyed the jokes praised Newsom for keeping them laughing, writing, “Lmfao sheep say what ?? and “and “LoL too funny.”
Summing up the moment for everyone, one X user added, “Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! This account is always good for a fucking laugh.”
The Newsom poll’s reach expanded just as scrutiny returned to a racist video posted on Trump’s social media account depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.
The White House later claimed the video had been shared by a staffer rather than the president himself. Newsom’s office publicly challenged that explanation.
In a post on X, his team wrote, “WOW! WHITE HOUSE SAYS TRUMP DOESN’T WRITE HIS OWN TWEETS??? AUTOPEN!”
WOW! WHITE HOUSE SAYS TRUMP DOESN’T WRITE HIS OWN TWEETS???
AUTOPEN! https://t.co/dyrvab9H5L pic.twitter.com/m9NfDEOYwR
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) February 6, 2026
The message flipped back to the administration, one of Trump’s long-running accusations that President Joe Biden relies on aides.
The president would later admit he had posted the Ape video, claiming he hadn’t watched the full version to see the bigoted animation. While owning that he posted the video, he refused to apologize for the harm it caused, as the “least racist president you’ve had in a long time.”
The poll and the critique over the video fit into Newsom’s broader online posture since Trump returned to office in January 2025. In addition to issuing some formal rebuttals, he’s also known to get down and dirty with the POTUS’ digital tactics, beating Trump at his own social media game.
This time, the poll did more than provoke a reaction. It played into a growing sentiment that the focus is no longer just on the person at the top, but on the people empowered to act in his name.
