Gavin Newsom is clearly committed to the bit. For more than a month now, the California governor has been mocking President Donald Trump on social media and trolling conservatives like Kid Rock in the process. Back in August, Newsom took inspiration from some of Trump’s previous posts about Taylor Swift and ended up joking that Kid Rock is “no longer hot.”
On September 20, his team continued the satirical feud with Kid Rock and joked that the musician was barred from performing in California. Writing in all caps like Trump does, Newsom’s press office said, “BECAUSE OF HIS HORRIFIC MUSIC, CALIFORNIA WILL INDEFINITELY SUSPEND KID ROCK FROM PERFORMING IN THE GOLDEN STATE. YOU’RE WELCOME! — GCN”
The post came after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show. The decision raised concerns about attacks on free speech in the United States, but Trump celebrated the decision and claimed that it was due to Kimmel’s “lack of talent.”
BECAUSE OF HIS HORRIFIC MUSIC, CALIFORNIA WILL INDEFINITELY SUSPEND KID ROCK FROM PERFORMING IN THE GOLDEN STATE. YOU’RE WELCOME! — GCN
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) September 20, 2025
Less than a week later, Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned to the air on Tuesday, September 23, and Trump took to Truth Social to slam the decision. “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” Trump wrote that same day. “The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.”
Though Newsom’s post appears to be a reference to this issue, there’s no evidence to suggest that Kid Rock is actually banned from performing in California. That didn’t stop people from taking the post seriously though. Someone replied to Newsom’s X post, writing, “I didn’t know elected officials were in the business of telling people what kind of music they are allowed to listen to. That’s what dictators do.”
Another critic wrote, “I thought you all were suddenly for free speech?” Though some people seemed to realize the post wasn’t meant to be taken seriously, they still called it “cringe.” Previously, when Newsom’s team made a joke about Kid Rock, the musician also didn’t seem to notice that it was satirical.
In August, Newsom’s team shared an AI-generated image of Kid Rock that read, “Kid Rock wants you to support Gavin Newsom” and captioned it with, “I ACCEPT!” If the post sounds really familiar, that’s because Trump did the exact same thing with an AI-generated image of Taylor Swift in 2024. But Kid Rock responded to the satirical fake endorsement, writing, “The only support Gavin Newscum will ever get out of me is from DEEZ NUTZ.”
