As Gavin Newsom positions himself as President Donald Trump’s chief Democratic antagonist, he has found unlikely admirers among white nationalists and the far right. Accounts belonging to racists, neo-Nazis and so-called Groypers have been circulating memes praising the California governor, who is seen as a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.
Last week, white nationalist Nick Fuentes posted a video praising Newsom, comparing the governor’s family unfavourably with that of Vice President JD Vance. Fuentes described Newsom’s wife and children as “white with blue eyes and blonde hair”, while deriding Vance as “visibly obese and very ugly”, adding that his wife and children are “not white”. The clip was widely shared on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk.
Fuentes later released a cleanup video, insisting he would “never vote for a Democrat” regardless of disagreements with the Republican Party. He criticised the GOP for being “owned by Israel, Wall Street and Silicon Valley” and “run by women, Jews, gay people and atheists”. Nonetheless, he continued to contrast Newsom’s family with Vance’s in racial terms.
Similar rhetoric came from accounts such as Dr. Groyper, which posted a video of Fuentes at the 2024 Democratic National Convention calling Newsom an “Aryan”. The account added: “We’re voting for Newsom 2028.” The Far Right has previously embraced Democrats, as when white nationalist Richard Spencer endorsed Joe Biden in 2020. It remains unclear whether such support is sincere or merely trolling.
Newsom himself is unlikely to welcome this endorsement. However, the attention highlights how his combative stance against Trump has made him impossible to ignore, even among the most extreme elements of the political spectrum.
