{"id":54814,"date":"2026-05-03T06:47:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T06:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/54814\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T06:47:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T06:47:38","slug":"bill-maher-tried-to-compare-gavin-newsom-to-donald-trump-newsom-was-having-none-of-it-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/54814\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Maher tried to compare Gavin Newsom to Donald Trump, Newsom was having none of it"},"content":{"rendered":"

California Governor Gavin Newsom<\/a> defended his shift toward more confrontational political tactics, telling talk show host Bill Maher that his use of Trump-like rhetoric is a deliberate attempt to expose the \u201cabsurdity\u201d of the modern political landscape.<\/p>\n

During an appearance on Friday\u2019s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher<\/a>, the governor addressed questions regarding his recent communication style, which has included combative social media posts and high-profile litigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong all the people who may or may not be running, you are the one who kind of imitates his style with the trolling \u2014 you\u2019re suing Fox now, I understand,\u201d Maher said to Newsom. \u201cThat sounds exactly like what he does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsom rejected the comparison, characterizing his actions as a strategic reflection of his opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to put a mirror up to Donald Trump,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to reflect that reality and express the absurdity of all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Speaking<\/p>\n

Speaking with comedian Bill Maher, California Governor Gavin Newsom defended his recent communication style, which has included combative social media posts and high-profile litigation (HBO)<\/p>\n

The discussion follows a ruling by a Delaware judge this week that Newsom\u2019s $787 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News may proceed to the discovery phase. The lawsuit alleges the network knowingly distorted Newsom\u2019s account of a phone call with Donald Trump during the June 2025 Los Angeles protests.<\/p>\n

In his ruling, the judge found it was \u201creasonably conceivable\u201d that the network acted with actual malice, rejecting an attempt to dismiss the case on First Amendment grounds. The decision opens the door for Newsom\u2019s legal team to access internal communications, including emails and editorial discussions, from the network.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking forward to discovery,\u201d Newsom wrote on X following the decision.<\/p>\n

Maher remained skeptical of the governor\u2019s methods, noting the irony of a high-profile Democrat using litigation against media outlets \u2014 a practice frequently associated with the Trump presidency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat sounds exactly like what he does, suing media,\u201d Maher said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going into discovery,\u201d Newsom replied. \u201cFox better look to settle right now or apologize for defamation,\u201d Newsom replied.<\/p>\n

Maher countered: \u201cOkay, again, but that does sound like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exchange has prompted debate among political observers. While recent polling shows Newsom at the top of the 2028 Democratic field, some viewers questioned the efficacy of the governor’s persona.<\/p>\n

\u201cNewsom has the policy and swagger to make a deep run for the presidency,\u201d one observer noted in an online forum following the interview<\/a>. \u201cI challenge his opponents to do more. Trump will be replaced, let\u2019s make it a race to the top.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others were more critical of the governor and the host.<\/p>\n

One viewer suggested Maher has become \u201cintellectually lazy\u201d and \u201conly knows the top level talking points\u201d on complex issues. Another dismissed the governor\u2019s online strategy, stating, \u201cTweeting mean things about Trump isn’t enough to be considered a candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California Governor Gavin Newsom defended his shift toward more confrontational political tactics, telling talk show host Bill Maher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[2184,33233,33234,12,542],"class_list":{"0":"post-54814","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gavin-newsom","8":"tag-bill-maher","9":"tag-communication-style","10":"tag-deliberate-attempt","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-gavin-newsom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116509307275180457","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}