(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) California Gov. Gavin Newsom drew ridicule Monday after making a bizarre and condescending analogy to a crowd at an Atlanta forum with Mayor Andre Dickens.
Newsom was in Atlanta promoting his book, Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, reflecting on his upbringing, during which he compared himself to attendees in a way critics called tone-deaf and even racist.
“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,” Newsom told Dickens, who is black.
“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,” he added, as quoted by the New York Post.
Critics pounced on Newsom’s below-average 960 SAT score, noting that his analogy felt especially patronizing coming in Atlanta, a predominantly black city.
Among the critics was rapper and Trump supporter Nicki Minaj, who wrote on X:
“His way of bonding with black ppl is to tell them how stupid he is & that he can’t read,” Minaj wrote on X. “This means my first read on him was correct. He’s been handed so many things & put in high positions he never earned or deserved.”
She added, “Do you wanna know the craziest part of this footage that will haunt him forever? He’s literally slowing his speech down & talking in a sporadic cadence.”
His way of bonding with black ppl is to tell them how stupid he is & that he can’t read.
This means my first read on him was correct. He’s been handed so many things & put in high positions he never earned or deserved.
Do you wanna know the craziest part of this footage that… https://t.co/llo1k7F7wB
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) February 23, 2026
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, mocked Newsom’s attempt as well, writing, “He’s like the perfect Democrat, made in a laboratory, dripping with racist condescension. But also very pretty.”
Newsom’s comments weren’t the only thing gaining attention online. When RealClear journalist Susan Crabtree asked for evidence of a dyslexia diagnosis, Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon, a taxpayer-funded employee, replied bluntly: “Respectfully, fuck off.”
Headline USA contacted Newsom’s chief of staff, Nathan, and Gardon, seeking comment on the exchange and whether the response was appropriate. In response, Gardon told this outlet that his comment was “cleared by Susan’s mom.”
California taxpayers pay Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press team who tells journalists seeking comment to “f— off.” https://t.co/CgvarHG6fV
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) February 24, 2026
