California Governor Gavin Newsom is now selling merchandise a la Donald Trump — including $100 “Bibles” that are already “sold out” — in his latest move to troll the president.
After days of imitating the president’s signature all-caps social media posting style, Newsom capped off a week of trolling Trump with the opening of what he’s calling the “Patriot Shop.”
“THE PATRIOT SHOP IS NOW OPEN!!!!” the Democratic governor announced Sunday in a social media post. “MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING THIS IS THE GREATEST MERCHANDISE EVER MADE. PLEASE ENJOY, AMERICA!”
In a direct jab at the president, the website lists a “Holy Bible” signed by “America’s Favorite Governor!” for $100.
The president’s hefty “God Bless the USA” Bibles went for $60 a pop and included the chorus to Lee Greenwood’s song by the same name as well as the text of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Within the last several weeks, the California governor has been mocking Trump’s idiomatic all-caps posting style, from his childish nicknames down to his classic sign-off — swapping “DJT” for “GCN.”
“I’m just following [Trump’s] example,” Newsom told reporters last week when asked about his posting strategy. “If you have issues with what I’m putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns with what he’s putting out as president.”
After Trump’s allies criticized the governor for carrying Bibles on the website, he wrote: “They still really don’t get it. Honestly incredible.”
The Patriot Shop also offers a “Trump is not hot” tank top, MAGA red-colored caps emblazoned with “Newsom was right about everything!” and “The Chosen One” T-shirt that features Newsom surrounded by far-right personalities Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock, and Hulk Hogan. Trump in 2019 declared himself “the chosen one.”
Three hours after the merchandise shop launched, Newsom boasted in an X post about its sales: “WOW! $50,000 IN PURCHASES ALREADY!! THANK YOU PATRIOTS!!!”
The store is administered by Bright Blue Ink, a Texas printshop working on behalf of Campaign For Democracy Committee, according to the website.
The store serves as Newsom’s latest salvo in his ongoing feud with the president, whose campaign and affiliated entities have monetized his political agenda and even his mugshot to make millions of dollars with Trump-themed sneakers, cryptocurrency, Christmas gift wrap, guitars, perfume, phones, and his line of MAGA hats.
The attacks have extended offline, too.
Newsom signed legislation this week calling for new congressional maps in California that could amount to five additional Democratic seats in Congress to offset a Trump-led effort to redistrict in Texas for five additional Republican seats.
Newsom’s press office wrote Thursday of the redistricting plan: “THESE ARE ‘PERFECT, BEAUTIFUL’ MAPS. BETTER THAN COLUMBUS, BETTER THAN GOOGLE MAPS, BETTER THAN APPLE MAPS (SORRY TIM, NO GOLD BAR FOR ME, BUT I STILL LOVE YOU!).”
“THE GOLDEN ERA BEGINS IN THE GOLDEN STATE, ALL BECAUSE OF ME, THE PEOPLE’S GOVERNOR, THE CARTOGRAPHER-IN-CHIEF, WHO WILL NOW LET THE PEOPLE VOTE!!! THANK YOU, USA!!!”
Newsom’s proposal came weeks after Trump suggested in July that Texas Republicans redraw the state’s congressional maps so that his party wins more seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
The president reiterated this idea, telling CNBC’s Squawk Box earlier this month that he was “entitled” to additional seats in Texas: “I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats.”
Separately, the Trump administration sued California’s department of education in July over its policy to allow transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports. This week, the Trump administration terminated the California State Personal Responsibility Education Program, a federal grant aiming to educate young people on both abstinence and contraception.
“California’s refusal to comply with federal law and remove egregious gender ideology from federally funded sex-ed materials is unacceptable,” Andrew Gradison, the acting assistant secretary at the Administration for Children and Families, said in a statement.
The California governor’s recent trolling appears to have spurred a “rising tide of support” among voters in his home state, Harry Enten, CNN’s chief data analyst, said.
He was referring to a recent poll that found that 75 percent of registered Democratic voters said they are “excited” about the prospect of Newsom running for president in 2028.
