Newsom Posts AI-Generated Videos Mimicking Star Wars' Emperor Palpatine Reading Trump Tweets
Gavin Newsom cast aside subtlety today in his war of words — and now lawsuits — with President Donald Trump.
The California Governor's Press Office posted two seemingly AI-generated TikTok videos with a voice that sounds a lot like Star Wars' Emperor Palpatine (played by Ian McDiarmid) reading recent military-minded posts from the president related to the unrest in Los Angeles.
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The first features a very marital, John Williams-sounding score playing over animated images of storm troopers mobilizing on the ground as star destroyers float overhead. The ominous voice reading Trump's words begins, 'A once great American city, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by illegal aliens and criminals…'
You can watch it below.
A ONCE GREAT AMERICAN CITY HAS BEEN OCCUPIED! pic.twitter.com/R3EnZNIk55
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 10, 2025
The second video features footage from the imperial attack on the rebel base from the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back. The Trump text used in the video warns that 'Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated' if not for his interventions.
Watch it below.
LOS ANGELES WOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY OBLITERATED! pic.twitter.com/dmTcCD3Fsh
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 10, 2025
Newsom is, of course, taking a page from Trump's playbook here. The president is fond of posting AI-generated video and images related to current news events.
In February, as conflict raged in Gaza, the president posted AI video that featured a transformed Gaza full of beaches, skyscrapers and gold Trump statues, with odd appearances from an AI-generated Elon Musk and Trump sipping a cocktail at the beach with a topless Benjamin Netanyahu. The posting garnered heavy criticism from the PLO and neighboring Arab nations.
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