California Governor Gavin Newsom roasted Donald Trump online Wednesday, calling out the president for trying to distract from the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein scandal with a bizarre post about Coca-Cola.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to declare that the soft drink manufacturer had agreed to replace the corn syrup used to sweeten Cokes in the U.S. with cane sugar:
“I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so. I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see,” Trump wrote. “It’s just better!”
Newsom quickly responded: “Oh thank God!” Newsom wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “I’ve totally forgotten about the Epstein files now!”
That sharp comment was a direct hit at Trump’s apparent attempt to shift attention away from the government’s failure to release all files tied to Epstein’s sex trafficking case.
Epstein, who was linked to numerous high-profile men including Trump, died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial. The circumstances around his death sparked years of public pressure to release names and evidence — what many refer to as the “Epstein client list.”
But earlier this month, the Justice Department said it found “no incriminating ‘client list’” and no solid proof that Epstein was blackmailing powerful people. Critics, including Newsom, aren’t buying it.
For his second blow, Newsom posted a meme based on Nickelback’s “Look At This Photograph” — a video Trump once used himself and got sued over. This version showed a real image of Trump and Epstein together in 1997. Newsom captioned it with: “Nickelback said it best.”
The meme ended with an old post from conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who in 2019 urged Trump to “order a FULL INVESTIGATION into Epstein’s illegal sexual trafficking.” But now, Kirk’s tone has changed. This week, he said he’s “done” talking about Epstein and will “trust my friends in the government.”
That kind of shift isn’t sitting well with voters. A new Economist/YouGov poll found that 59% of Trump voters believe the government is hiding something about Epstein.
Newsom’s tweets didn’t just go viral — they cut straight through the noise, pointing out what many see as a clumsy and suspicious attempt by Trump to make people look the other way.
So far, Coca-Cola hasn’t said whether anyone at the company has actually talked to Trump or agreed to his supposed plan.
