US President Donald Trump launched a tirade against California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday (local time) and lashed out at him on dyslexia, which is a learning disability. He called the governor “a Cognitive Mess.”
Newsom is a potential 2028 presidential candidate.
Earlier in Kentucky, Trump spent a long stretch of his speech mocking Newsom for publicly talking about his dyslexia, saying, “I don’t want the president of the United States to have a cognitive deficiency.”
Then, while flying back to Washington, Trump took to Truth Social, his social media website, to again criticize Newsom, whom he referred to as “Newscum”, and called his recent interview a “politically suicidal act”.
“Gavin Newscum’s interview weeks ago was, perhaps, the most self-destructive interview I’ve ever seen. In one fell swoop, he took himself out of even being considered as the Presidential Nominee of the Crazy (as proven at the State of the Union Address) Democrats,” Trump wrote in his rant post.
“He said, in a speech, he was dumb, had low Boards, can’t read, has dyslexia, and has a mental disorder — A Cognitive Mess!” he added.
Trump also said that Black people were angry with Newsom because “he is obviously a racist”. “While we all want to be politically correct, having a mental disorder is not a positive campaign event. Also, this was a politically suicidal act,” he added.
The US President said that the only thing the California Governor didn’t say was that “he is losing his look, but nobody wants to say that about one’s self. He is no longer a viable Presidential Candidate!”
The Gavin Newsom controversy
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California since 2019, has insisted 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, the former mayor of San Francisco, published his memoir “Young Man in a Hurry”.
At 58 years old, Newsom, who built his career in winemaking and hospitality, reflected in the book on his dyslexia and his upbringing between a mother working multiple jobs and a father who was a judge close to some of California’s wealthiest people.
Later, in an interview, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens asked Newsom about his childhood, including his dyslexia.
Giving a winding answer, Newsom eventually looked at Dickens, then out toward the audience and said: “I’m just trying to impress upon you, I’m like you. I’m no better than you. You know, I’m a 960 SAT guy. And, you know, and I’m not trying to offend anyone, trying to act all there if you got 940.”
Dickens, who is Black, laughed. So did the racially diverse audience.
But a truncated clip of the conversation went viral anyway, with numerous Republicans and right-wing influencers accusing Newsom of being racist, apparently for implying that he’s “like” Black people for underperforming academically.
