Vice President JD Vance took aim at likely 2028 Democrat presidential candidate California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in an interview Thursday with Fox News host Will Cain.
“You can’t mimic the master. You ought to just go and be yourself. And I think the people would like that a lot more than a cheap imitation of the president of the United States,” Vance told Cain.
Newsom has taken to mimicking President Donald Trump’s social media style, employing all capital letters in X and Truth Social posts, insulting his political opponents, and even signing off an X post with just his initials like Trump.
The California governor’s polling has risen among potential voters as he has sought to replicate the Trump approach to social media, although only time will tell if those gains hold. An Echelon Insights poll conducted in August found Newsom second in support to former Vice President Kamala Harris in a hypothetical Democrat presidential primary.
“When I see Gavin Newsom trying to act like Donald Trump, that’s the opposite of authenticity. He’s not trying to be Gavin Newsom—whoever that is. He’s trying to be a fake carbon copy of Donald Trump. And it just doesn’t work,” the vice president explained.
Vance also took aim at Mamdani, the Democrat candidate running to be New York City’s next mayor against incumbent Mayor Eric Adams; former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo; and Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the nonprofit anti-crime group the Guardian Angels. Recent polling has shown Mamdani in the lead ahead of the Nov. 4 election.
Mamdani has attracted significant press coverage for his left-wing political views, including dismantling traditional policing and pledging $65 million to transgender treatments for New Yorkers if elected.
When asked about Mamdani, the vice president, a Republican, noted his grandmother was a Democrat.
“She was a Democrat who loved this country and felt gratitude for this country. She had multiple relatives who served in World War II, who served in World War I. She remembered that war like it was yesterday. She would tell me about World War I and her brother and her dad going off to fight in the Pacific,” Vance said.
“Does Mamdani. when you hear him speak, is this a man who feels gratitude for the United States of America? Is this a man who feels grateful for all of the opportunities, the incredible bounty in this country?” the vice president asked.
“I don’t know the guy, but my sense is, he’s had a very good life in this country. It would be nice to occasionally show a sense of gratitude, instead of just attacking the United States or all its problems,” he said.
