Two stories collided this week — one highlighting the collapse of California’s business climate and the other the state’s governor trying desperately to distract from it with internet trolling.
First, the serious part: Bed Bath & Beyond Executive Chairman Marcus Lemonis made it official. The retailer will not open or operate physical stores in California. His reasoning? Blunt and impossible to ignore. California, he said, has become one of the most overregulated, overtaxed, and unsustainable environments for business in America.
NEW: Bed Bath & Beyond executive chairman @marcuslemonis announces the retail chain will not run any stores in the state of California.
“California has created one of the most overregulated, expensive, and risky environments for businesses in America.”
Meanwhile, have you seen… pic.twitter.com/KVLwdaDmp3
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 20, 2025
“This decision isn’t about politics — it’s about reality,” Lemonis explained. Higher wages, endless fees, stifling regulation, and runaway taxes have created a system where businesses are “squeezed until they break.” Californians will still get products through online delivery, but the company flatly refuses to play by a broken set of rules that makes it impossible to survive.
That’s not just a company statement — that’s an indictment of Gavin Newsom’s California.
And how did the governor respond? By playing Trump on social media.
In recent days, Newsom’s press office has adopted the full Trump parody treatment: ALL CAPS rants, childish nicknames, and boasts about “beautiful” rallies and “perfect” maps. He even christened Trump with a new moniker, “TACO” (Trump Always Chickens Out), and claimed his own gerrymandered redistricting maps were so brilliant they should earn him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Official statement regarding @BedBathBeyond
We will not open retail stores in California.
This isn’t about politics — it’s about reality.
California’s system makes it nearly impossible for businesses to succeed, and I won’t put our company, our employees, or our… pic.twitter.com/G5dSaigB3y— Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis) August 20, 2025
While California businesses are fleeing and retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond are publicly calling the state “unsustainable,” Newsom is online writing in fake-Trumpese about how his maps are more “beautiful than anything in Trump Tower.”
Democrats and media allies call it “refreshing.” Strategists say he’s “capturing hearts and minds.” But what it really shows is a party so hollowed out that it mistakes copying Trump’s style for actual leadership. California is bleeding jobs, residents, and businesses — but its governor is cosplaying online, hoping that trolling will distract from the mess at home.
One story is about a CEO protecting his shareholders by walking away from California’s economic quicksand. The other is about a governor protecting his ego by imitating the very man he claims to despise.
