California Governor Gavin Newsom Has a Pretty Good Response to a Comparison to Patrick Bateman
Gavin Newsom is not trying to get a table at Dorsia.
Published Oct. 31 2025, 2:30 p.m. ET
Believe it or not, the list of United States presidents who have been assassinated is shorter than the list of presidents who have killed people. Four sitting U.S. presidents have been assassinated, while 10 have taken at least one person's life, per History News Network. As dramatic as that statement is, the deaths occurred on a battlefield or, in the case of Grover Cleveland, at work. He presided over two hangings when he was a sheriff in Erie County, N.Y.
While we salute our veterans, this is not exactly a resume bullet point one usually seeks out when considering candidates for political office. After John F. Kennedy Jr. became the first president to use television during his presidency, the physical appearances of politicians came under scrutiny. What do these things have in common? Well, California Governor Gavin Newsom is being compared to the fictional serial killer in American Psycho. Is he a fan of Huey Lewis and the News?
Gavin Newsom does kind of like like Patrick Bateman from 'American Psycho.'
If you're still wondering why we're connecting death, politicians, and the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, wonder no more! No one actually thinks Gavin Newsom is a serial killer. Certain corners of social media have leaped to this improbable conclusion based on Governor Newsom's style choices. Based on his suits and the way he does his hair, Newsom kind of has a Patrick Bateman thing going. Once you see it, you can't unsee it.
If you plug "Gavin Newsom" and "Patrick Bateman" into TikTok, you'll be met with numerous videos from folks who cannot stop comparing the governor to a fictional serial killer with an incredible skincare routine. Comments under a TikTok posted by GenerationVex are the stuff of comedy dreams. One person wrote they saw a TikTok where a person said Newsom is the baby of Patrick Bateman and Regina George from Mean Girls. It's a cursed combination, but we see this too!
Gavin Newsom responds to the Patrick Bateman doppelgänger allegations.
Because we live in a time where social media posts can be the news, Newsom was asked about the Patrick Bateman situation during an interview with ABC News. Jonathan Karl asked Newsom what he "makes of all the Patrick Bateman talk," to which the governor smiled in a very Batemanesque way. Is he so in on it that he's now doubling down?
With a smile showing teeth as white as the driven snow, Governor Newsom giggled and appeared flustered. Karl showed him a printout of a side-by-side photo of Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, next to a photo of the governor. They couldn't look more similar. As Newsom tried to steer the conversation away from this, Karl said even his friends have pointed this out. "I'm gonna reevaluate my guest list," joked Newsom.
After Karl read jokes about Newsom and Patrick Bateman out loud, the governor turned on the politician in him. To his credit, he said he doesn't mind being a punching bag as long as it gives some space for people to run over him and move forward. For anyone who might be confused, he did not mean that literally.