California Gov. Gavin Newsom flipped Donald Trump’s big brag about gas prices to mock him over the Epstein files.
The president has been desperately trying to convince Americans that gas prices have been coming down as part of a drive to persuade voters the economy is in great shape, regardless of what their wallets say.
Newsom, the early Democratic frontrunner for 2028, has repeatedly trolled Trump over his reluctance to release the full Jeffrey Epstein files, mocking him for his close friendship with the late child sex trafficker.
The White House posted its brag about gas prices on X, claiming to be platforming real reviews from real Instagram accounts across the country celebrating low prices and thanking Trump for making it happen.
“More results, more testimonials,” the White House boasted. “Gas prices are cratering, and the American people are feeling the results.” It then included messages of people happily saying how little they were paying for fuel.
It is not clear whether the post contains messages from actual consumers—but Newsom’s mocking reply, featuring supposedly real people complaining about the Epstein files, is definitely made up.
“Conveniently redacted files = Plenty of proof,” one of the messages in Newsom’s mock version said, overlaid on top of one of the many pictures of Trump and Epstein together, washed over with Instagram’s familiar pink and purple color scheme.
“Looks like a Bromance to me!” said another in the California governor’s post, sarcastically captioned “Fixed for you @WhiteHouse.”
“But we all know he’s having the files edited to remove him and has been stalling meanwhile,” a third fumed, referring to claims that the administration is redacting files to remove references to Trump.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act required all the files to be released in a full and searchable manner by Dec. 19, leaving nothing out except for the redaction of any identifying details of victims, anything depicting child sexual abuse or anything related to ongoing investigations.
However, many of the documents were entirely blacked out. Others, which may contain valuable information about well-known public figures, have been redacted in a way that sheds little to no light on what happened.
“How can it be ensured that the files were not manipulated before being released?” asked another of the messages posted by Newsom, echoing widespread skepticism about redactions to the documents in question.
Meanwhile, Trump has been battling on another front, the economy. The 79-year-old has faced criticism from his own base that he is too focused on foreign policy instead of the problems faced by average Americans.
For his part, Trump has rejected the term “affordability,” calling it a Democrat “hoax,” despite a new poll showing nearly half of registered voters think life has gotten more expensive during his second term in office.
The newly released Epstein files have featured various high-profile figures photographed alongside Epstein, including former President Bill Clinton and pop stars Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger.
Investigative journalist Julie K. Brown, whose 2017 probe into Epstein contributed to his final arrest, said they are “worse” than anticipated.
“I would say most of the stuff that I’m getting is just more like, ‘Oh my God, this is worse than I thought,’” Brown told the Bulwark. “That’s really what I think every day.”
“This is like—wow, there are big people involved,” she continued. “Look, I’ve been absorbed in this for eight years, and I’ve seen a lot. So when you see something like that, I think it’s just human nature to think, ‘What is this now?’”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and Newsom for comment.
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