LEILA FADEL, HOST:
A social media account for California Governor Gavin Newsom's press office is going viral. The X account mimics President Trump's style on Truth Social. You know the style - using all caps, multiple exclamation points, coming up with derogatory nicknames for political opponents. There are also digitally altered images of Newsom that put him on Mount Rushmore and have him being prayed over by Trump allies like Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock and an angel-winged Hulk Hogan. Basically, he's trolling the president. Is it a strategy that's working? To talk about this, I'm joined by professor Jamie Krenn. She's a media and psychology professor at Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College. Good morning, and thank you for being on the program.
JAMIE KRENN: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
FADEL: So these posts are clearly getting traction. What is it about them that's resonating?
KRENN: They're short. They're punchy. It's plain words. Clearly, the caps always make us think, hey, this person's yelling at me, and can you believe this? The conversational style is just what draws people in.
FADEL: What do you see as Newsom's goal here?
KRENN: I think his goal is to get attention. It's to stay relevant. It's to make sure that his message is getting out there in a way that can attract a wider range of constituents and calling attention to what needs to change or what we need to bring our attention to.
FADEL: Are these posts effective at accomplishing the goal of policy, though, when it - what needs to change and...
KRENN: So keeping up that energy is difficult. It's, you know, keeping a high volume. It's keeping a, you know, high cortisol level inducing of stress to make the policy relevant or equate the policy communication effectively. You have to question the credibility. If someone's constantly yelling at you, you have to think, where are they basing this? Is this more based on emotion? Are they really looking at facts, figures and research?
FADEL: And at this point, I mean, it's a lot of poking fun, it seems, like, making fun of the style of President Trump. But you said it might not be a long-term strategy. But the president - President Trump has done this for years, and it seems to be working for him.
KRENN: It seems to be working for him and getting attention, but it's been going on for so long that the credibility is, you know, still questioned. You are gaining your followers. You are gaining that side, that team of, you know, joining in and getting on the same message. But it's also, in some ways, alienating the other side because we don't know if we can trust what the administration is putting out in their messages. So there's questioning of, you know, trying to make this effective.
FADEL: Steve Bannon, the Republican strategist and podcaster, told Politico that tactics like this aren't going away and are likely to get more intense. So is this what Americans are in for - this sort of yelling on social media?
KRENN: I think so. I think this formula is working - the short, punchy style, plain words, extreme emotions, the outrage, the humor and then the triumph. Adopting this meme-like tone with snappy, sarcastic visuals, it is framing - you know, getting more traction out in the news. And I think it's just what we are going to have to wade through in the future to understand the true message.
FADEL: Jamie Krenn is a professor at Columbia University and at Sarah Lawrence College. Thank you so much for your time.
KRENN: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF 2PAC SONG, "CALIFORNIA LOVE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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