The political rivalry just got personal. California Governor Gavin Newsom unleashed a relentless social media trolling campaign Thursday after President Donald Trump announced he was firing Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary. The Democrat could barely contain his glee, flooding X (formerly Twitter) with AI-generated images, digs about Noem’s dog, and a simple farewell: “BYE GIRL!”
Noem’s ouster marks the first Cabinet firing of Trump’s second term, coming after mounting scrutiny over her spending, an alleged affair, and her controversial handling of immigration enforcement. But for Newsom, who has positioned himself as one of Trump’s most vocal critics, the moment was too good to let pass quietly.
Newsom’s press team went into overdrive within hours of Trump’s announcement. The governor’s official account shared an AI-generated image of Noem wearing a cowboy hat while waiting in a “MAGA Unemployment Line.” Another showed a smiling puppy holding a newspaper with the headline “Trump Fires Kristi Noem”.
The caption? “Justice for Cricket!” a pointed reference to the former South Dakota governor’s own admission in her 2024 memoir that she shot and killed her family’s dog, a 14-month-old German wirehair pointer named Cricket, along with a goat.
Next came a collage of Noem, who earned the nickname “ICE Barbie” from the Daily Beast for her various cosplaying appearances in tactical gear, cowboy hats, and bulletproof vests, alongside an AI-generated image of her holding a cardboard sign reading “JUST FIRED!” The post was captioned: “NEW KRISTI JUST DROPPED!”.
Perhaps the most brutal jab came hours later. Newsom’s account posted an “in memoriam” style video set to Sarah McLachlan’s emotional ballad “I Will Remember You”, the song famously used in ASPCA animal cruelty commercials.
The video features a slideshow of Noem images: her in cowboy hats, full combat gear, nursing scrubs, and flowing hair, with the text “IN MEMORIAM. KRISTI NOEM. 2025-2026.” It fades to black and reads: “It was the worst of times.” Newsom captioned it: “Gone but not forgotten”.
Beyond the visuals, Newsom made his position clear in writing. “Goodbye Kristi Noem! You will go down in history as the most brazenly incompetent and cruel Secretary of Homeland Security in United States history,” he posted on X.
He followed up in Spanish, adding that firing her “is not enough. Noem, Greg Bovino and Stephen Miller must be held accountable for terrorizing and endangering the American people”.
At his book event in New Hampshire Thursday, Newsom framed the firing as a sign of weakness in the Trump administration. “Donald Trump is in retreat,” he told the crowd. “Today is a perfect example, the first firing of a high-profile cabinet member”.
Trump announced Noem’s removal Thursday on Truth Social, replacing her with Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin, who will take over as DHS Secretary on March 31. Noem will move into a newly created role as Special Envoy for “The Shield of the Americas,” a security initiative Trump says will focus on the Western Hemisphere.
The firing followed intense congressional scrutiny. Noem faced two days of grilling on Capitol Hill over a $220 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign designed to boost her national profile, her handling of FEMA funding, and luxury jet travel. She also drew condemnation for refusing to apologize after labeling two slain Minnesota protesters, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as “domestic terrorists”.
Rumors of an alleged affair with her top advisor, Corey Lewandowski, described as Washington D.C.’s “worst-kept secret”, further damaged her standing. Both have denied the affair.
Perhaps the “last straw,” according to sources, came when Noem testified under oath that Trump had personally approved the $220 million ad campaign. Trump later told Reuters, “I never knew anything about it”.
Newsom and Noem have publicly baited each other for years. The California governor repeatedly called for her resignation, while Noem made disputed claims that her officers discovered fraud in California and warned, “We’re going to come to you, Governor Gavin Newsom”.
Their rivalry intensified in June 2025 when California Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed and handcuffed by law enforcement while attempting to confront Noem at a Los Angeles federal building over immigration raids.
Trump praised Noem’s border record in his announcement, saying she “served us well” and delivered “spectacular results.” But sources inside DHS tell a different story. One DHS source told the Daily Mail that staff at headquarters are cheering: “Everyone is happy, lots of smiles. Morale had taken a hit. There’s a feeling among a lot of folks here that the department can finally reset”.
Newsom, meanwhile, shows no signs of letting up. After criticizing Mullin as “erratic and unstable,” he’s turned his attention to the new nominee. But for now, the man who can’t resist trolling Trump’s team has made sure Kristi Noem won’t forget her exit anytime soon.
