Gavin Newsom Casts Stephen Miller as Iconic Movie Villain: ‘Congrats!’
The California governor previously compared President Trump to Emperor Palpatine from “Star Wars.”
Getty Images/Warner Bros.
The Harry Potter reboot series has yet to announce who will play Voldemort, but Gavin Newsom has a casting suggestion.
On Thursday, the California governor seized an opportunity to drag White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, likening him to Harry Potter antagonist Lord Voldemort.
He compared Trump to Emperor Palpatine, but Newsom had another villain in mind when it came to Stephen Miller.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Responding to a tweet from the fan account Daily Harry Potter claiming that the role of Voldemort had been cast, but was being kept a secret by HBO, the governor’s press office account posted, “Congrats, @StephenM!”
Congrats, @StephenM! https://t.co/19aaXJJvlK
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) July 17, 2025
The dig at Miller from Newsom’s office comes just over a month after the Democratic governor, who is widely considered to be a potential 2028 presidential candidate, made a similar joke about President Trump.
On June 10, the governor’s press office reposted two TikToks likening Trump to Emperor Palpatine from the Star Wars franchise. Palpatine, who appears in six Star Wars films, is a murderous dictator who remains in power through legal loopholes.
Newsom has made a habit of comparing figures from the Trump White House to iconic movie villains.
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Voldemort—portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in the original series—is a eugenicist cult leader who commits mass murder after going mad with power and who, like Miller, sports a bald head.
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This is hardly the first time Newsom has employed the nickname when exchanging blows with Miller. The governor’s press office first likened the Trump adviser to Voldemort in June.
The initial dig came in response to Miller’s tweet falsely claiming that California’s status as a sanctuary state means “every criminal alien arrested by local police is... set free back into the community instead of being handed over to ICE.”
The term “sanctuary state” refers to California’s policy of limiting the cooperation of its state and local agencies with ICE. However, the California Prison System has worked with ICE to transfer more than 10,500 inmates to federal custody.
In response to Miller’s tweet, Newsom’s office wrote, “Yes, we seek sanctuary from your stupidity.”
Yes, we seek sanctuary from your stupidity. https://t.co/ejpFx2bhrA
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 11, 2025
p.s. Voldemort, you should know the state has coordinated 10,588+ times with ICE to remove dangerous criminals from the state since Governor Newsom took office https://t.co/94Zyl2xBoT https://t.co/IJbsw8ow06
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