US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) launched a tirade against California Governor Gavin Newsom, calling him dyslexic, a learning disability. He called the governor a “cognitive mess.”
Newsom is a potential 2028 presidential candidate.
Earlier in Kentucky, Trump spent much of his speech mocking Newsom for speaking publicly about his dyslexia, saying, “I don’t want the president of the United States to have a cognitive deficit.
Afterward, while flying back to Washington, Trump took to his social media website Truth Social to again criticize Newsom, whom he referred to as “Newscum,” calling his recent interview “politically suicidal.”
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“Gavin Newscum’s interview weeks ago was possibly the most devastating interview I’ve ever seen. He took himself out of even consideration as the Crazy Democrats presidential candidate (as evidenced in the State of the Union) in one fell swoop,” Trump wrote in his disparaging post.
“In the speech he said he was stupid, low-scoring, couldn’t read, dyslexic and had a mental disorder – cognitive chaos!” he added.
Trump also said black people were upset with Newsom because “he’s clearly a racist.” “As much as we all want to be politically correct, having a mental disorder is not a positive campaign event. It was also a politically suicidal act,” he added.
The US president said the only thing the California governor didn’t say was that he was “losing his looks, but nobody wants to say that about himself. He’s no longer a viable presidential candidate!”
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The Gavin Newsom Controversy
Gavin Newsom, governor of California since 2019, has insisted that he has not decided whether to run for US president in 2028. He told CNN that he will make any future decision with his wife and four children.
Last month, Newsom, a former mayor of San Francisco, published his memoir, “A Young Man in a Hurry.”
Newsom, who has built a career in winemaking and hospitality, reflected in the book at age 58 on his dyslexia and upbringing between a mother who worked multiple jobs and a father who was a judge close to some of California’s wealthiest people.
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Later, in an interview, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens asked Newsom about his childhood, including his dyslexia.
With a convoluted response, Newsom finally looked at Dickens, then at the audience, and said, “I’m just trying to impress you, I’m like you. I’m no better than you. You know, I’m a SAT 960 guy. And, you know, I’m not trying to offend anyone if you have a 940.”
Dickens, who is Black, laughed. So is a racially diverse audience.
But a truncated clip of the conversation went viral just the same, with a number of Republicans and right-wing influencers accusing Newsom of racism, apparently for implying that he was “like” black people for not achieving academically.
