"Name Another Governor as Worthless as Gavin Newsom. You Can't." — Why This Attack Landed in April 2026

 Gavin Newsom embodies the failures of unchecked progressive governance. Under his watch, California has become a cautionary tale of soaring taxes, rampant crime, and exploding homelessness that drives families and businesses out in droves. While he lectures the nation on climate and equity, everyday Californians struggle with unaffordable housing, failing schools, and streets overrun by chaos.

No other governor matches his record of hypocrisy and incompetence. Newsom’s endless photo-ops and virtue signaling cannot hide the exodus of jobs and residents fleeing his disastrous policies. From energy blackouts to ballooning budgets, his leadership has turned the Golden State into a symbol of liberal overreach at its worst.

True leadership demands results, not rhetoric. It’s time to reject the model Newsom represents and return to principles that actually deliver prosperity and safety for all Americans.The Republican Army post is not a policy critique. It is a dare, and it is timed to a very specific week in California politics.
The image of Gavin Newsom pointing at a podium went viral on April 24-25, 2026, right after three stories broke that Republicans have been waiting years to merge into one attack: a $12 billion budget deficit, a new gas price spike, and Newsom's national tour to oppose Trump's ICE funding.
Here is the long version of why the "worthless" label is sticking right now.
1. The budget holeOn April 18, California's Legislative Analyst's Office updated its forecast: the state faces a $12.4 billion shortfall for FY 2026-27, on top of the $47 billion deficit Newsom closed last year with cuts and borrowing.
Newsom's team blamed the shortfall on three things:
Lower capital gains taxes after the 2025 tech stock pullback$4.1 billion in unexpected Medi-Cal costs for undocumented immigrants (the expansion Newsom signed in 2024 now covers 1.6 million people)$2.7 billion in wildfire response after the January 2026 Palisades and Eaton firesRepublicans immediately framed it as mismanagement. Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher said April 19: "Newsom gave free health care to everyone in the world, and now he wants to raise your taxes to pay for it."
That $4.1 billion number is the core of the "worthless" meme. The Republican Army account has posted it daily since April 20 with captions like "America First vs California Last."
2. Gas prices — againOn April 22, AAA reported California's average gas price hit $5.49 per gallon, $1.87 above the national average. It was the highest in the country, again.
Newsom blamed refinery maintenance and "price gouging," and renewed his call for a windfall profits penalty on oil companies — a proposal the legislature rejected in 2023 and 2024.
The timing hurt. That same day, the Senate in Washington passed Trump's $70 billion ICE funding bill. Newsom flew to D.C. on April 23 to hold a press conference outside the Capitol, calling the bill "a deportation army" and promising California would sue to block it.
Republican accounts clipped the two events side-by-side: Newsom in D.C. talking about ICE, while Californians pay $5.49 at home. The "worthless" post is the summary of that clip.
3. The 2028 shadow campaignNewsom is term-limited in 2026 and is openly running a shadow campaign for president in 2028. In the last 30 days he has:
Visited South Carolina (March 28)Launched a podcast interviewing MAGA figures like Charlie Kirk (April 8)Debated Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Fox News in a rematch (April 15)Testified in Washington against the SAVE Act (April 23)Republicans argue he is neglecting California. The meme's dare — "name another governor as worthless" — is designed to force Democrats to defend his record while he is out of state.
It also flips Newsom's own brand. He has spent two years calling Republican governors "authoritarian" and "cruel" on abortion and immigration. The post answers: you are not effective, you are just loud.
4. What Newsom's defenders sayNewsom's office released a 6-point rebuttal April 24:
Economy: California is still the world's 5th-largest economy ($4.1 trillion GDP in 2025), ahead of IndiaJobs: Unemployment fell to 4.8% in March 2026, down from 5.4% a year agoDeficit: The $12.4 billion gap is 4% of the budget, smaller than the $32 billion Texas faces from property tax cuts, they argueHealth care: The undocumented Medi-Cal expansion reduced ER visits by 18%, saving counties moneyClimate: California hit 61% clean electricity in 2025, the highest everCrime: Homicides down 11% statewide in 2025, though retail theft remains high in LA and OaklandNewsom himself responded to the meme on his podcast April 25: "They call me worthless because I won't kiss the ring in Mar-a-Lago. I'll take that."
5. Can you name another governor?That is the trick in the post. Objectively, you can — every governor has critics.
Kathy Hochul (D-NY) faces a $9 billion MTA deficit and the highest out-migration in the U.S.Greg Abbott (R-TX) is under federal investigation for the Operation Lone Star border wall contractsJB Pritzker (D-IL) has the worst-funded pension system in the countryRon DeSantis (R-FL) saw home insurance premiums rise 42% in two yearsBut the meme is not asking for a list. It is asserting that Newsom is uniquely bad because California is uniquely visible. What happens in Sacramento — gas prices, homelessness, Hollywood strikes, tech layoffs — becomes national news in a way that does not happen in Albany or Austin.
6. Why this matters nowNewsom is not on the ballot in 2026, but his policies are. Three initiatives will likely be on the November ballot:
A repeal of the undocumented Medi-Cal expansionA suspension of the gas taxA parental notification law for schools on gender identityThe "worthless" attack is the messaging test for all three. If voters agree Newsom is ineffective, they are more likely to vote to unwind his signature programs.
It is also a 2028 primary attack. Trump allies want to define Newsom early as "California's failure" before he can define himself as "the Democrat who fights Trump."
Bottom lineIs Gavin Newsom "worthless"? That is opinion, not fact. California's economy grew 2.3% in 2025, but its population shrank for the third straight year. It leads the nation in clean energy and in homelessness. It has a $12 billion deficit and a $4.1 trillion economy.
The Republican Army post works because it takes three real April 2026 data points — the deficit, $5.49 gas, and the D.C. trip — and turns them into a character judgment. It dares you to defend him, knowing that defending California's complexity in a meme is impossible.
Whether you think he is worthless or the most effective Democratic governor in the country depends on which numbers you look at. The meme wants you to look only at the ones from last week.