California Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t wait long to pile on — joining forces with Barack Obama in a ruthless viral video that turned a night of Republican setbacks into a personal humiliation for Donald Trump.
As results rolled in showing major Democratic wins from New York to Mississippi to California, Newsom fired off a WWE parody meme on X — a taunting, over-the-top clip that cast himself and Barack Obama as tag-team partners slamming Trump into the mat.
The video quickly went viral.
“Now that’s what we call a takedown,” Newsom wrote, as the footage showed “Obama” high-kicking “Trump” in the face after the president was smacked with a trash-can lid and body-slammed by the California governor. In the background, “JD Vance” writhed on the floor of the wrestling ring while the crowd roared.
The meme landed just as Democrats notched a clean sweep across key states. In New York, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani delivered a victory speech aimed squarely at Trump, declaring, “I know you’re watching… turn the volume up!”
In California, the passage of Proposition 50 gave Democrats new power to redraw the state’s congressional map — a move expected to net them as many as five new House seats. And in Mississippi, Democrats cracked the Republican supermajority for the first time in 13 years.
The clip was a hit on social media.
“Thanks 😊 this made my day and have me laughing 🤣,” said one viewer on Threads.
“This is so silly…I had to laugh. I mean…I didn’t want to…I had to LOL!” joked another.
Another added, “And actually the single best part of this is Newsom set himself as one of Trump’s cabinet member’s son-in-law. That’s brilliant.”
Newsom was prepared to make it a long night for Trump. As soon as Proposition 50 was projected to pass, Newsom started in with the jabs. At an Election Night news conference, he declared, “Donald Trump is a historic president. He is the most historically unpopular president in modern history. In every critical category, Donald Trump is underwater.”
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Passage of the proposition grants California lawmakers the authority to temporarily redraw the state’s congressional district map to help Democrats pick up five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. It was a strategy out of the Republican playbook: Texas redrew the congressional map this past summer, and Democrats hope Prop 50 will help counter that.
In blue-leaning states, and even in some red areas, Democrats won major victories, including in Mississippi, where they flipped two state Senate seats and one seat in the Mississippi House following court-ordered special redistricting elections intended to provide greater representation for Black voters. For the first time in 13 years, Mississippi has cracked the Republican supermajority in the Senate.
In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the governor’s race. Republicans flamed out in New Jersey and Georgia as well.
Meanwhile, Trump has been distancing himself from the wreckage, saying Republicans would have triumphed if only his name had been on the ballot. In the aftermath, he took to Truth Social to shout, “‘TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,’ according to Pollsters.”
But polling numbers tell a different story. In New York, Mamdani received more votes (at least 1.03 million) than all other candidates combined. In California, at least 63.8 percent of voters supported redrawing the maps.
Mississippi Democrats “worked tirelessly to make inroads in tough territory,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams. “Voters are ready to stand up against Republicans’ extreme agenda and hold them accountable.”
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Hours later, Trump appeared disheveled and puffy-eyed during a press conference on Wednesday, where he blamed the election results on the government shutdown that has lasted for 36 days.
“But I thought we’d have a discussion after the press leaves about what last night represented and what we should do about it, and also about the shutdown and how that relates to last night. I think if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor, negative, for the Republicans,” he said.
Viewers took notice of his appearance with comments ranging from “His beady swollen eyes are freaking me out” to “He’s gonna cry in the car.”
