Newsom wants to be the next Democratic presidential candidate. But this isn’t the way to do that.
And now Gavin Newsom’s racist remarks were just caught on camera.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, the polished face of elite West Coast politics, delivered yet another cringe-inducing moment during a book tour stop in Atlanta, leaving critics to call out what they see as blatant condescension wrapped in faux humility.
Newsom’s Patronizing “Relatability” Pitch
While promoting his memoir Young Man in a Hurry in front of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and a largely Black audience on Sunday night, Newsom launched into an awkward bid for connection by highlighting his own academic shortcomings.
He told Dickens directly, “I’m not trying to impress you, I’m just trying to impress upon you, ‘I’m like you. I’m not better than you.’ I’m a 960 SAT guy.” He pressed on, “And I’m not trying to offend anyone. I’m not trying to act all there if you got 940 … You’ve never seen me read a speech because I cannot read a speech.” The remarks, tied to his claimed dyslexia, struck many as a clumsy—and insulting—attempt to equate his personal struggles with racial stereotypes about intelligence and achievement.
Backlash Builds: From “Soft Bigotry” to Outright Condescension
The video clip detonated online, drawing sharp rebukes from across the spectrum. Sen. Tim Scott declared, “Black Americans aren’t your low bar. We’ve built empires, created movements, outworked, outhustled and outsmarted people like you. Stop using your mediocre academics as a way to patronize communities. Its ridiculous!”
Nicki Minaj skewered the governor, noting that his idea of bonding with Black people involved boasting about being “stupid” and unable to read—proof, in her view, that he’s been handed elite positions without earning them.
Sen. Ted Cruz echoed the charge of “soft bigotry of low expectations,” while others branded it “liberal racism on display.” Even Greg Gutfeld mocked it as “stupid signaling,” a desperate ploy by a silver-spoon beneficiary to shed his privileged image by pretending dimness equals depth.
Pattern of Pandering Amid California’s Decline<
This latest gaffe fits Newsom’s recurring habit of performative gestures over substance, especially as he eyes bigger stages like a potential 2028 run.
Rather than tackling the homelessness crisis, crime spikes, or economic exodus plaguing California under his leadership, the governor jets off for book events where he tries to rebrand himself as just another underachiever.
Posting the full clip himself on X only fueled the ridicule, underscoring how contrived these efforts feel. For a man whose path was smoothed by family connections—including ties to Jerry Brown—lecturing others on shared “mediocrity” rings hollow, exposing more about his own insecurities than any genuine solidarity.
