Gavin Newsom had some harsh words for Joe Rogan on Thursday after the podcaster called the California governor a “cardboard cutout of a person.”
“JOE ‘LITTLE GUY’ ROGAN IS TOO CHICKEN TO HAVE ME ON HIS FAILING PODCAST BECAUSE HE KNOW I’D CRUSH HIM, SO HE TAKES CHEAP SHOTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY AS HE GETS RELEGATED TO IRRELEVANCY,” Newsom said on X, emulating Donald Trump’s own social media posts as part of a long-running bit. “ALL TALK, NO ACTION. I’M READY WHEN YOU ARE, ‘LITTLE GUY.’ OR KEEP HIDING!!!!”
Newsom, who signed the post “— Governor GCN” (referencing Trump’s usual “President DJT” sign-off on Truth Social), was striking back at Rogan after the podcaster went on a rant about the politician on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” In the speech, Rogan slammed Newsom’s potential presidential aspirations, arguing that nobody would buy what he’s selling if a national run was in the California politician’s future.
“Nobody wants President Newsom either. Nobody believes in that guy,” Rogan said on the podcast. “The guy’s a f–king con man. I mean, everything he did in California, from trying to mandate vaccines for kids when it was totally unnecessary to being caught out in public without a mask and lying about the fact that he was outdoors, all of it. I mean, nobody believes in that guy. He’s just a politician. Just a stone-cold, narrative-driven politician.”
You can watch the full clip (and see Newsom’s all-caps Tweet) below.
JOE “LITTLE GUY” ROGAN IS TOO CHICKEN TO HAVE ME ON HIS FAILING PODCAST BECAUSE HE KNOW I’D CRUSH HIM, SO HE TAKES CHEAP SHOTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY AS HE GETS RELEGATED TO IRRELEVANCY. ALL TALK, NO ACTION. I’M READY WHEN YOU ARE, “LITTLE GUY.” OR KEEP HIDING!!!! — Governor GCN https://t.co/5JtafE9zE6
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) May 1, 2026
In 2026, Newsom’s second term as California governor will expire, making him no longer eligible for the position under the two-term limit. As the California gubernatorial race heats up, many are wondering if Newsom will throw his hat in the ring as the Democratic candidate for the 2028 presidential election. It’s a narrative Newsom himself won’t yet debunk, with the governor saying in October that he’d “be lying” if he said he wasn’t considering a presidential run, saving that decision for after the 2026 midterms.
Rogan, who recently has been criticizing Trump’s “insane” actions in Iran (despite joining Trump in the Oval Office for an executive order signing just a month later), compared Newsom unfavorably to the current president. In the rant, Rogan stated that “nobody thinks” Newsom “is a real human.”
“Whether you like Trump or not, whether you think he’s corrupt or not, that’s a human being. You know what that guy is. Same thing with RFK Jr. Whether you believe that he’s correct about vaccines, or whether you believe his policies would be effective, you know that’s a human being,” Rogan said. “With Newsom, you’ve got, like, this construct, this cardboard cutout of a person.”
The post Gavin Newsom Hits Back at ‘Little Guy’ Joe Rogan After Podcaster Called Him ‘a Cardboard Cutout of a Person’ appeared first on TheWrap.
