SACRAMENTO, CA— After weeks of confusion, sources close to California Governor Gavin Newsom revealed Monday that his top aide, Marcus Delaney, has been relaying joke headlines in place of real news during daily briefings.
“It started innocently enough,” Delaney followed up, reporting it was several weeks ago when he switched to satire to get Newsom worked up about the political landscape.
Staff members report that Newsom has yet to raise a single question about the strange updates, often responding with thoughtful comments like, “Let’s make sure we have funding lined up for that,” or “Get the legislature on board before we announce.”
“He’s fully engaged,” said one aide, trying not to laugh.
Despite the escalating absurdity, no one in the Governor’s office has dared to break character, partly out of fear of ruining the joke and partly out of genuine curiosity about how long this can go on.