(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The press office of embattled California Gov. Gavin Newsom attempted to take a jab at President Donald Trump by posting a photo of Joe Biden captioned, “RT if you miss having a President with empathy.”
The post, which featured Biden with his arms crossed, quickly racked up more than 2 million views — but it also backfired in a way Newsom’s team likely did not expect.
The post was met instead with responses mocking Biden’s supposed empathy. Many users reposted the image alongside examples they said told a very different story, including Biden’s support for Israel and its military operations in Gaza.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote, “Joe Biden financed, armed, diplomatically shielded and militarily protected Israel’s genocide in Gaza — one of the worst crimes of the 21st Century — but yes, by all means, let’s celebrate his renowned and inspirational empathy.”
Another X user echoed that sentiment, adding: “We’re not going to allow them to rewrite history of the president who propped up, defended and oversaw Israel committing genocide of the Palestinian ppl for over a year and half.”
Left-wing activist Nina Turner also weighed in, asking, “Did he empathize with Palestinians?”
Meanwhile, X personality Zachary Foster shared an image appearing to show Palestinian children holding containers as they pleaded for food.
The empathy of Joe Biden: https://t.co/4uWkeN1oGi pic.twitter.com/PgI7ewIeIR
— Zachary Foster (@_ZachFoster) April 3, 2026
Criticism was not limited to foreign policy, with conservative columnist Bonchie recalling that Biden once “tried to fight a union worker for disagreeing with him and made a Gold Star mom cry.”
Conservative podcast host Stephen Miller posted an image of a New York Times op-ed criticizing Biden for snubbing his seventh grandchild, Navy Biden, who was born out of wedlock to his son Hunter.
“It’s Seven Grandkids, Mr. President,” read the op-ed headline, written by Maureen Dowd.
The post is part of a broader effort to counter Trump through fiery, and at times controversial, social media messaging.
That strategy is being led by taxpayer-funded staffer Izzy Gardon, who recently came under fire after cursing at RealClear journalist Susan Crabtree for asking for evidence to support Newsom’s claim that he suffers from dyslexia.
Headline USA spoke exclusively with Newsom’s chief of staff, Nathan Barankin, who dismissed the controversy, claiming he was “handling this situation as I deem appropriate.”
