SAN DIEGO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is bringing a whoopee cushion to a constitutional crisis.

By mocking President Donald Trump on social media, Newsom thinks he is making voters laugh. What he is really doing is making a big mistake.

These are dark days for our democracy. And like the saying goes: When the going gets tough, the tough… grab their phones and post on X?

With Trump wiping his feet on the Constitution, invading Democratic cities and disrespecting the federal judiciary, Democrats are starved for leadership. They want someone from the blue team to fight back hard against the president’s tyrannical impulses.

Unfortunately, Newsom’s strategy for battling Trump relies on trolling and harassment. With help from a squad of Gen Z and Millennial social media ninjas, Newsom is trying to get under Trump’s notoriously thin skin. The team puts up posts and short videos that ridicule the president in his own hyperbolic and childish language. “A lot of people are saying…” “No one has ever seen numbers like this…” “Thank you for your attention to this matter.” Other posts imply a mutual attraction between Newsom and first lady Melania Trump.

The Newsom troll factory is even stealing a page from Trump Inc. by selling merch through an online store dubbed “The Patriot Shop.” In a recent social media post, Newsom exclaimed: “MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING THIS IS THE GREATEST MERCHANDISE EVER MADE.” Now for the bad news: The $100 “Holy Bible” — signed by “America’s Favorite Governor!” — is sold out.

All this gets attention, which doesn’t hurt given that — in the worst-kept secret in U.S. politics — Newsom wants to be president. But who showed him that the path to the White House starts with being an online bully? Never mind. Come to think of it, it was Trump.

Democrats are enjoying the show. They describe this online heckling as fighting fire with fire. Yet, since Trump is the most powerful person in the world, and Newsom is just the most well-known person in California, it’s more like fighting a blowtorch with a sparkler.

This is not a good strategy. For one thing, it concedes too much ground to Trump by letting him dictate the terms of the conversation. I think of that line delivered by C.C. Bloom, Bette Midler’s character in the movie, “Beaches”: “But enough about me. Let’s talk about you. What do you think of me?” Whenever someone is talking about Trump — or, in this case, talking like Trump, he wins.

Besides, as any good comedian will tell you, timing is everything — and Newsom’s timing is way off. He’s telling jokes in the middle of something that is not the least bit amusing: the invasion of a sovereign state — and likely others to come — by the federal government, the levers of which are now under the control of a third-rate tyrant.

Remember when the GOP championed states’ rights? Neither does the current incarnation of the GOP.

Republicans only holler about states’ rights when a Democrat controls the White House. The Democrats are the same way, only in reverse. When they’re out of power, they start sounding like Jefferson Davis leading the Confederacy against the Union.

Newsom fits that pattern. How he behaves toward the president depends on which party controls the White House. When it was in the hands of President Joe Biden, a fellow Democrat, he was quiet and compliant. Now that it is Trump who sits in the Oval Office, suddenly, the California governor is in high dudgeon. This is not without reason, of course, given Trump’s fixation with invading and controlling Democratic-run cities — Los Angeles yesterday, Washington, D.C., today, Chicago tomorrow.

Serious times deserve a serious response. What Newsom is offering falls short by a country mile. Instead, he needs to use the full power of the governor’s office to challenge Trump and his surrogates. State law enforcement officers should be policing immigration raids and arresting those who impersonate federal immigration officers. Let the Department of Homeland Security bail out the bounty hunters they contracted with.

Of course, Democrats love what Newsom is doing. They’re so hungry for a response that, when they get handed crumbs, they celebrate like it’s a steak dinner. So Democrats are content to yuk it up and continue to ride in the clown car — at least for a while longer.

If so, Republicans will get the last laugh. Mockery isn’t resistance. It can deliver a punchline, but not a knockout punch.

To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.