Last week, Ric Grenell, an administration staffer and president of the now-MAGA Kennedy Center, waded into California state politics with an attack on Jennifer Siebel Newsom, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) wife.

It could have something to do with Grenell’s own ambitions in the Golden State.

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Grenell retweeted and commented on a story from the U.K. rag Daily Mail, which pictured what it claimed was California’s first partner cavalierly buying cosmetics in Beverly Hills as immigration protests roiled parts of Los Angeles.

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Those confrontations were inflamed as the president federalized California’s National Guard without consulting the governor.

“Dear God. She came to Los Angeles to shop using her $4k purse. @GavinNewsom and his wife don’t care about the chaos,” Grenell posted, referring to Siebel Newsom’s handbag.

While that nugget may or may not have been true, the rest of the story was false.

The photo of Siebel Newsom was taken months earlier, in January, well before the protests started. She was picking up skincare products used for scar treatments for an earlier bout with cancer.

Gov. Newsom’s press office demanded an immediate retraction from both the Daily Mail and Grenell.

“This story is an outright lie and needs to be retracted entirely. The photo is from months ago — when the first partner was picking up skin care products. She is recovering from a past skin cancer diagnosis, you SICK people.”

In response, Grenell doubled down on the lie, retweeting the New York Post’s take on the shopping contretemps and spitting up more cynical attacks on the Newsoms.

Even more galling, Grenell himself is a cancer survivor.

“This is pathetic spin from @GavinNewsom’s wife. Using a previous skin cancer diagnosis to explain why you are tone deaf to the LA riots is shameful,” Grenell spewed on social media, still not acknowledging that the photo was from January.

“I had 5 rounds of R-CHOP chemotherapy for 18 weeks. It’s offensive for the First Partner of California (this is the title she demands we use) to use cancer as a reason you need to be in Beverly Hills picking up skincare products while the riots are unfolding around you.”

While the Daily Mail issued a correction to their half-baked story, and the New York Post took it down altogether, both posts referencing the original stories remain on Grenell’s aggrieved and attack-laden X feed.

Why is MAGA’s culture enforcer so interested in tearing down California Democrats?

It turns out Grenell’s obsession with the first partner and expensive handbags may have something to do with a possible run for California governor in 2026.

Grenell floated the possibility in an interview with Politico just days after attacking California’s First Couple.

He said a decision would be contingent on former Vice President Kamala Harris running for the job. Newsom is termed out.

“If Kamala runs, I think there’s a whole bunch of Republicans who are going to have to take a look at it, not just me,” Grenell said, teeing up a retribution campaign on his boss’s behalf. “If she runs, it is going to make me have to take a look at it.”

Grenell said he’s spoken with the president about a bid but declined to share details.

Another recent tweet on Grenell’s X feed, unexplained and unattached to any other content, summed up his self-loathing performance in the current administration. 

“This is all so sad,” Grenell tweeted. “And infuriating.”

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