I’m really thinking it’s time for someone to do a wellness check on Gavin Newsom. The California governor has recently developed an incredibly odd obsession with the governor of a state that resides over 2,000 miles away.

Of course, I’m talking about Ron DeSantis and Florida, which has become one of the fastest growing, most prosperous states in the union. Emigration from California to Florida (and other red states) has been at extremely high levels over the last several years, and that’s not a coincidence. DeSantis made his state a safe haven from COVID-19 hysteria, including lockdowns and mandates. Newsom, on the other hand, is still running a medical security state out west that has crushed businesses and only exacerbated the wealth gap.

Laughably, Newsom decided to run ads in Florida trying to present his state as the place of “real” freedom, essentially begging people to return to the hellhole he’s created. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that won’t be very effective.

Yet, Newsom’s attacks are continuing, and they are getting weirder and more deranged.

Exclusive: @GavinNewsom told me he's never met @RonDeSantisFL.

I asked him what he would say to him if he did?

"Stop being a bully. Stop belittling people who look differently, act differently love different. Who the hell are you? Stop!"

Full interview on @TheIssueIsShow pic.twitter.com/drDFG4kZZP

— Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) July 15, 2022

Can anyone even figure out why Newsom is in Washington, D.C.? Is he cosplaying as president while Biden is in the Middle East, burning what little brain power he has left to the ground? If Newsom’s goal is to seem presidential as a primer for 2024, it just comes across as pathetic. One of the cardinal rules of public persuasion is never letting people know how badly you want something. A politician that tries to make himself more than he is, before he’s earned it with voters, comes across as weak and desperate.

Returning to Newsom’s obsession with DeSantis, have you ever seen those memes where the top half is someone shouting “I feel bad for you” while the bottom half is the target of that ire saying “I don’t think about you at all”? That’s what this is. The California governor is lashing out, practically begging DeSantis to start a national feud with him, and the Florida governor’s response has been to laugh it off while continuing to score policy wins. One guy is losing in that scenario, and it’s not DeSantis.

I mean, really. What is Newsom even trying to do? Does he think his leftwing intersectional rantings about people looking and loving differently resonates anywhere outside of San Francisco and other deep-blue bastions? People are flocking to Florida because they don’t care about that stuff. What they care about is being able to live their life as they see fit, free from mask mandates, sky-high tax rates, and top-down social engineering. They also care about having parental rights and the ability to protect their children from sexual indoctrination and racial essentialism. While Newsom rages, DeSantis’ cultural policies are actually part of what is drawing people to Florida.

So, why is Newsom doing what he’s doing? The answer is that he’s delusional enough to think the Democrat Party will throw Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg under the bus to nominate a straight, white male in 2024. In an era of absolute liberal devotion to identity politics, that’s just not going to happen. Newsom’s attempts to raise his profile by attacking DeSantis are only going to add to the Florida governor’s legend.