Gavin Newsom's press office has been mocking President Trump with tweets in his style over the past few weeks.

Democrats and party activists see Newsom's scrappy, Trump-mocking, profanity-tinged speeches and snarky social media posts as signs of new life in a party left dispirited and rudderless.

If it seems juvenile and beneath the office of California’s top elected official, this is part of the strategy, which one aide described as “holding up a mirror to Maga”. After all, Trump refers to Newsom in social media posts as “Gavin Newscum”.