Following weeks of mocking the Trump administration on social media, California’s governor went after Vice President JD Vance’s looks while he attacked his former “never Trump” beliefs.
On Tuesday, Newsom shared a video on X from the account Republicans against Trump. It featured a montage of clips of a beardless Vance before he ran for Senate in Ohio, back when he was more critical of Trump.
At one point in the montage, on Charlie Rose’s show in 2016, Vance said he was “a never-Trump guy” who “never liked him.”
“Grew a beard and lost his spine,“ Newsom captioned the post. ”But at least he kept the eyeliner.”
Another clip from 2016 showed Vance agreeing with podcaster Matt Jones after the host said he thought Trump was a fraud.
“I do too,” Vance told Jones.
The montage also showed Vance on PBS Newshour, when he said that “there is definitely part of Donald Trump’s support that has its basis in racism or xenophobia.”
Vance’s criticisms of Trump faded in the years leading up to the Ohio Republican being chosen as Trump’s 2024 running mate. By then, Vance became one of Trump’s potential political heirs and was floated as a potential 2028 presidential candidate.
Vance and Newsom have sparred since Trump returned to the White House. Vance recently clapped back at Newsom for his posts mimicking Trump’s style on Truth Social and called it “inauthentic.”
“When I see Gavin Newsom trying to act like Donald Trump, that’s the opposite of authenticity. He’s not trying to be Gavin Newsom — whoever that is,” Vance told Fox News host Will Cain on Aug. 28. “He’s trying to be a fake carbon copy of Donald Trump. And it just doesn’t work. The lesson of President Trump in American politics is you’ve got to be authentic to yourself.”
That same day, Newsom’s press office X account clapped back at “JUST DANCE” Vance, “WHO NOBODY LIKED UNTIL TRUMP PICKED HIM OUT OF THE ‘BARGAIN BIN’ IN THE WALMART CLEARANCE SECTION…”
“THE DANCING QUEEN CAN’T STOP! I LIVE RENT-FREE IN HIS HEAD (VERY TINY SPACE, ALMOST NO ROOM WITH ‘THE COUCH’),“ the post from Newsom’s office reads. ”HE IS VERY WEAK… THE GUY CAN’T RUN, TAKES MORE ‘VACATIONS’ THAN ANY VICE PRESIDENT IN HISTORY (AND WE’VE HAD SOME LAZY ONES!), GOT CAUGHT TAKING PHOTOS IN THE BATHROOM (VERY SICK!) AFTER APPLYING HIS EYELINER AND WEARS A COMMUNIST RED SHIRT.”
While it is unclear if Vance wears eyeliner, online conspiracies accuse the vice president of wearing dark makeup around his eyes. Former New York U.S. Rep. George Santos wrote on X in October 2024 that Vance “does NOT use eyeliner.”
“I’ve met him in person before he was a senator and I can confirm he has long eyelashes and they cast a shadow on his waterline,” Santos noted.
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