Gavin Newsom joked people compare him to God and it immediately backfired

California Governor Gavin Newsom thinks he’s hilarious trolling President Trump on social media.

But his latest stunt just revealed exactly what he thinks of himself.

And Gavin Newsom joked that people compare him to God and it immediately backfired.

Newsom’s Trump parody strategy backfires with God comparison

Gavin Newsom has turned his official press office account into a Trump parody show in recent months, mimicking the President’s all-caps social media style in what he calls exposing "California Derangement Syndrome."¹

The strategy has Democrats cheering and Republicans rolling their eyes at what looks like a 2028 presidential tryout disguised as political commentary.

But Newsom’s latest post crossed a line that even his supporters found jarring.

When a fan responded to one of his "California Derangement Syndrome" posts with a meme, Newsom’s press office account fired back with a stunning response.

"THANK YOU, PATRIOT! VERY KIND! I AM NOT GOD, BUT MANY PEOPLE RIGHTFULLY GET CONFUSED! — GCN," the post read.²

Read that again – "rightfully get confused" between himself and God.

The joke landed with a thud for anyone who remembers Newsom’s track record on religious freedom during the coronavirus pandemic.

Here’s a man who claims people confuse him with God while he spent 2020 and 2021 shutting down churches and banning religious gatherings in private homes.³

The Supreme Court repeatedly slapped down Newsom’s church closures as unconstitutional violations of the First Amendment’s freedom of religion clause.⁴

That’s not the record of someone who respects religious faith – that’s the record of someone who thinks he’s above it.

Trump stays humble on religion while Newsom makes God jokes

Trump took the opposite approach when discussing faith this week.

The President told reporters he didn’t think he would be admitted to Heaven, despite negotiating peace in Gaza.⁵

That kind of genuine humility about matters of faith stands in stark contrast to Newsom joking that people confuse him with the Almighty.

Trump’s posts on social media often serve policy purposes beyond the brash rhetoric Democrats mock.

Newsom’s parodies appeal to liberals who interpret them as a mirror image of Trump’s aggressive style – but they’re missing the strategic difference.

When Trump posts something outrageous, there’s usually a calculated political goal behind the bluster.

Newsom’s version amounts to "look at me, I’m doing what Trump does" without any of the substance that makes Trump’s approach effective.

The God comparison becomes even more tone-deaf when you consider Newsom’s history of religious insensitivity.

https://twitter.com/GovPressOffice/status/1978642916672471295

California churches learned the hard way about Newsom’s view of faith

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Newsom shut down churches across California and prohibited religious gatherings even in private homes while allowing comparable secular activities to continue.⁶

The Supreme Court struck down these restrictions as unconstitutional violations of religious freedom five separate times.⁷

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that "since the arrival of COVID-19, California has openly imposed more stringent regulations on religious institutions than on many businesses."⁸

California even created a spreadsheet assigning places of worship their own special row for restrictions – proof the targeting was deliberate, not accidental.⁹

Newsom banned Bible studies and prayer meetings in private homes, limiting gatherings to no more than three households while allowing secular activities with far more participants.¹⁰

Churches filed lawsuit after lawsuit challenging Newsom’s discriminatory treatment of religious exercise.

And they won over and over again at the highest court in the land.

Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver noted that "the constitutional rights of churches under the First Amendment do not evaporate in a time of crisis."¹¹

Newsom apparently didn’t get that memo – or didn’t care.

Newsom’s recent insults to faith show pattern continues

The God joke isn’t Newsom’s only recent display of religious insensitivity.

Days before, Newsom posted a "Dumb and Dumber" movie parody featuring Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their announcement about freeing hostages and ending the Gaza war.¹²

After backlash, he quietly deleted it.

Two world leaders had just negotiated peace and secured the freedom of hostages held captive for two years by Hamas terrorists.

Newsom’s contribution? Mocking them with a comedy movie poster.

The pattern is clear – Newsom treats serious matters of faith, peace, and religious freedom as props for his social media performance art.

Democrats, especially Newsom, have been accused repeatedly of insensitivity toward people with serious religious commitments.

When you spend years closing churches and banning home worship, then joke that people confuse you with God, you’re not just tone-deaf – you’re revealing what you really think.

Newsom sees himself as above the religious freedoms that millions of Americans hold sacred.

His Supreme Court losses proved he was willing to trample constitutional rights to consolidate his own power during a crisis.

And now he’s making jokes about being compared to God while running what looks like an early presidential campaign.

The California Governor clearly learned nothing from getting repeatedly overruled by the Supreme Court on religious freedom.

He’s too busy crafting the next Trump parody post to worry about showing respect for people of faith.

But voters who take their religious liberty seriously will remember – both the church closures and the God jokes.

¹ Meg Kinnard / Associated Press, "Newsom Jokes That People Compare Him to God," Breitbart, October 16, 2025.

² Ibid.

³ Ibid.

⁴ "COVID-19 Becket Cases," Becket Fund, August 9, 2022.

⁵ Kinnard / Associated Press, Breitbart, October 16, 2025.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ "Supreme Court Rules Newsom’s Home Bible Study, Worship Restrictions in Violation of First Amendment," Charisma Magazine Online, April 12, 2021.

⁸ "South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom," U.S. Supreme Court, 2021.

⁹ Ibid.

¹⁰ John R. Vile, "Tandon v. Newsom (2021)," The First Amendment Encyclopedia, April 18, 2021.

¹¹ Charisma Magazine Online, April 12, 2021.

¹² Kinnard / Associated Press, Breitbart, October 16, 2025.