Lately, whoever runs Gavin Newsom’s official press office Twitter account has been really letting loose. It’s a nice change of pace from the usual careful, measured language you see from Democratic offices. Instead of tiptoeing around, they’re openly mocking MAGA figures, and it’s been pretty satisfying to watch.
They’ve gone after Trump’s inner circle and allies with a surprising amount of bluntness. Stephen Miller, a longtime Trump advisor, was called a fascist. Pete Hegseth got roasted as “WEAK, NO BRAINS, NO TALENT, ZERO FUTURE!” Even Trump’s U.N. speech didn’t escape unscathed and was described as an “abomination.” The posts aren’t always clever or subtle, but they hit hard and they make people feel good watching them land.
One of their sharpest jabs recently was just a single word. Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and social media personality, reportedly came down with a respiratory infection that seems to be getting worse. Newsom’s press team didn’t miss a beat and responded with a pointed “vaxxed?”
This digs at Loomer’s long history of anti-vaccine posts. She famously called the COVID vaccine the “death jab” and bragged about refusing it. She’s pushed countless conspiracy theories online about COVID, so this one-word tweet is the perfect little sting. People online loved it. Some joked that this was the first time they actually enjoyed reading something Loomer wrote. Others went even further, joking that her respiratory infection might even “die from Laura Loomer infection,” or openly rooting for the illness in a darkly humorous way.
Of course, there’s a real possibility that Loomer really does have COVID. The virus isn’t dominating headlines like it did before, but September has seen a wave of infections from the highly contagious XFG, also called the “Stratus” variant. If she’s unvaccinated, as she has openly admitted, a bad case could knock her out for days. For anyone who has had severe COVID, you know it’s miserable. Lying in bed, feeling wiped out, coughing, groaning, and wishing someone else had caught it instead.
It’s hard to feel sympathy for Loomer after all her years of railing against vaccines, but yes, we can hope she recovers. Still, after all her online antics, most people aren’t holding their breath when it comes to feeling sorry for her.