California Governor Gavin Newsom greeted U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s weekend visit to California with his typical mockery.
Vance arrived at Camp Pendleton over the weekend to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps.
Newsom, who has been at odds with the Trump administration and has previously mocked Vance and U.S. President Donald Trump on social media, wrote in an X post: “JD — WELCOME TO CALIFORNIA, WE MADE SURE YOU FEEL RIGHT AT HOME.”
Highlights
- Gavin Newsom mocked Vice President JD Vance's Camp Pendleton visit with a sarcastic social media post and video of vandalized furniture.
- JD Vance praised the military and criticized diversity initiatives during the 250th Marine Corps anniversary event at Camp Pendleton.
- Live artillery fire over busy Interstate 5 during the event sent shrapnel onto vehicles, sparking criticism from Newsom about safety risks.
- Newsom ordered a temporary interstate closure citing extreme safety risks; Vance's team defended the exercise as an established practice.
Gavin Newsom greeted JD Vance’s visit to California with social media mockery
Image credits: cagoverner/Instagram
The message, in all-caps like many of Trump’s social media posts, was shared along with a video of a couch with the words “JD WAS HERE” spray-painted on it.
The comment follows a viral claim made in July that Vance admitted to having sex with a couch in his memoir.
The story began as a now-deleted tweet on X and was later debunked by fact-checkers, including the Associated Press.
The joke gained so much traction that Google Trends data showed searches for “JD Vance couch” briefly surpassing queries for other major political topics.
Earlier this month, after Trump shared AI-altered videos targeting his opponents, Newsom fired back by posting a clip of Vance’s Fox News interview with a Minion filter over it.
Vance traveled to Southern California on Saturday to speak at the major military event that included live artillery fire, fighter jets, helicopters, Navy vessels, and shots fired from a towed howitzer.
It was the largest event of its kind in the continental U.S. in a decade.
Vance, a former Marine himself, delivered a speech praising the military and criticizing diversity initiatives he described as “woke.”
“I would not be here today, I would not be the vice president of the United States, I would not be the man I am today, were it not for those four years that I served in the Marine Corps,” Vance said to hundreds of Marines gathered at the base.
While Vance spoke about strength and unity, outside, live artillery used during the demonstration sent shrapnel raining down over a section of Interstate 5.
Pieces of metal struck two vehicles, including Vance’s protective detail.
Live artillery sent shrapnel raining down over Interstate 5
Image credits: JDVance/Instagram
“Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous,” Newsom said in a statement.
He ordered a section of the interstate to close temporarily “due to extreme life safety risk and distraction to drivers, including sudden unexpected and loud explosions.”
Vance’s communications director, William Martin, dismissed Newsom’s concerns, calling the event “an established and safe practice.”
“If Gavin Newsom wants to oppose the training exercises that ensure our Armed Forces are the deadliest and most lethal fighting force in the world, then he can go right ahead,” Martin told CNN.
“It would come as no surprise that he would stoop so low, considering his pathetic track record of failure as governor.”
California Border Division Chief Tony Coronado called the situation “unusual and concerning” and said that such exercises are not common over an active freeway.
Officers reported hearing what sounded like pebbles raining down on patrol vehicles.
Newsom’s mockery of Vance quickly spread across platforms, with social media users adding their own jokes.
One user shared a photo of a discarded mattress with a sign that read “J.D. Vance stood me up,” while another shared an image of the Simpsons holding a broken couch captioned, “This is why we won’t ask J.D. Vance to housesit again.”
Newsom’s mockery of Vance spread across social media, with users adding their own jokes
The back-and-forth between Newsom and Vance is not new.
Newsom has positioned himself as one of the most vocal Democratic critics of the Trump administration, while Vance frequently attacks California’s policies as examples of liberal “failure.”
“It is not our diversity that makes us stronger,” Vance said about diversity and liberalism on Saturday. “It is our common purpose, it is our common mission, and it is the fact that every single person here bleeds Marine Corps green.”
“I bring greetings today from our commander-in-chief, Donald J. Trump, and he wanted me to tell each and every single one of you that he’s proud of you, that he loves you and that despite the Schumer shutdown, he is going to do everything he can to make sure you get paid exactly as you deserve.”