California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has escalated the culture war on social media by sharing a bizarre AI-generated video. The video, which plays off a White House post, depicts President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller in handcuffs and crying.
The doctored video, shared on X, shows the three men sitting in handcuffs with the text, “It’s cuffing season.” It then transitions to them raising their cuffed hands to their faces and beginning to cry while sitting in the back of a car.
Newsom’s video ends with the officials approaching a courthouse surrounded by police, reporters, and spectators taking pictures. Throughout the piece, R&B singer SZA’s song “Big Boys” plays in the background.
The video was created as a direct, immature response to a White House post showing a montage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests. The White House post was captioned, “WE HEARD IT’S CUFFING SZN,” adding, “Bad news for criminal illegal aliens. Great news for America.”
Both videos drew scorn from the artists whose music was used. Pop musician Sabrina Carpenter previously called the White House’s use of one of her songs for a similar ICE video “evil and disgusting.” SZA slammed the White House’s use of her music as “rage baiting artists for free promo” and “Evil n Boring.”
Newsom has made AI-generated attacks a staple of his social media presence. Last week, he shared an AI image of himself receiving a fictional “inaugural Kohl’s Peace Prize,” mocking President Trump after the president received the first FIFA Peace Prize.
The California Governor’s campaign also previously shared an AI-generated image of Marie Antoinette with Trump’s face, mocking the government shutdown and the demolition of the East Wing of the White House to construct a ballroom.
Despite his constant attacks, Newsom recently stated he has “softened” to the idea of a third Trump term, telling "The Jack Cocchiarella Show" that the regime is "going to be measured not in decades, but in years."