California Governor Gavin Newsom

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s (D) press office posted a satirical image on the social platform X on Sunday, depicting MAGA supporters kneeling and praying over Newsom — a provocative visual echo of President Donald Trump’s flamboyant digital style.

The post, captioned “so nice!”, served as a biting mockery of Trump’s loyal base.

One user, who self‑identified as conservative, responded in the comments: “Very disrespectful and blasphemous!”

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In a swift reply, the press office shared a screenshot of a White House post showing Trump edited as the Pope — a photo shared on the White House’s account in May and widely criticized for its religious insensitivity. The caption accompanying Newsom’s retort read: “oops our bad, sorry. meant to post this.”

That Pope-Trump image had attracted considerable backlash at the time. Posted shortly after the funeral of Pope Francis, and without attribution, it was widely decried by Catholic leaders as disrespectful. Trump later claimed he “had nothing to do with it” and speculated it might have been AI-generated.

The post from Newsom's office led to criticism from Trump's supporters, but was welcomed by liberal social media users.

"Newsom is doing an awesome job holding up a mirror to the Trumpian absurdities his followers have all just accepted," wrote a user.

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Radio host Barry Markson wrote: "If you think Newsom's tweets parodying Trump's tweets are unbecoming the governor of our largest state, please show me your tweets criticizing Trump when he says and does THE EXACT SAME THING. Newsom is pointing out how ridiculous Trump is, and how crazy it is that we act like Trump is normal or acceptable."

GOP strategist George Andrews wrote: "I’m concerned about the @GovPressOffice account. It used to be a trusted channel during wildfires, earthquakes, and other emergencies. It carried real institutional weight. Now the tone undercuts that trust. In a real crisis, confusion spreads faster than facts. If this is how they want to politic, fine. Just don’t do it from the emergency mic."

"I'm sorry but whatever his flaws, this is the way. Hope this spreads," wrote a user.

Writer Christo Aivalis said: "I hate to admit it, but Newsom's on a legendary posting run."