Everything About Him Is Dumb”: Trump Goes After Newsom’s Dyslexia and SAT Score
President Donald Trump didn’t hold back when he went after California Governor Gavin Newsom the other day, zeroing in on the governor’s recent admission about having dyslexia. While chatting with reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump made it pretty clear how he feels about the idea of someone with a learning disability running for the highest office.
“I think a president shouldn’t have learning disabilities, okay?” Trump said bluntly. He even threw in his nickname for Newsom—“Gavin ‘Newscum’”—and added that “everything about him is dumb.” He mentioned how Newsom had opened up about his low SAT score and struggles with reading speeches, but insisted he’s fine with people having those challenges… just not as president.
It all started because Newsom, who’s been eyeing a potential 2028 White House run, talked about it during a stop in Atlanta while promoting his new memoir. He told the crowd something like, “I’m a 960 SAT guy,” trying to connect with folks by saying he’s no better than anyone else. He also mentioned he can’t really read a speech off the page. Trump jumped on that, claiming Newsom came across like he was saying he was smarter than the audience—which happened to be mostly Black—and called the whole thing silly and even racist.
Newsom fired back pretty quickly on social media: “To every kid with a learning disability: don’t let anyone — not even the President of the United States — bully you. Dyslexia isn’t a weakness. It’s your strength.”
His wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, took it a step further in a video she shared on Instagram. She called Trump’s remarks “extremely ignorant and offensive,” pointing out that dyslexia has nothing to do with how smart or capable someone is. In fact, she noted, plenty of hugely successful leaders—including some past U.S. presidents—have dealt with it. She talked about how kids with learning differences work twice as hard every day, and how her own children face those challenges with real grit. Then she turned it around on Trump, listing off what she sees as his own disqualifying issues, from legal troubles to other controversies.
The back-and-forth between these two has been going on for years now, with Newsom’s team often poking fun at Trump’s speaking style and social media habits right back at him. After Trump’s comments, the governor’s press office even posted a cheeky all-caps response pretending what a “dyslexic president” might do in office—legalizing cannabis, bringing back abortion rights, banning Ticketmaster fees, and getting rid of commercials during sports and certain reality shows. They wrapped it up by saying it’d be an upgrade from a “brain-dead” one.
It’s the kind of political spat that feels very on-brand for both of them these days.
The feud shows no signs of cooling off, especially with Newsom positioning himself as a leading voice against the current administration. Whether it’s about leadership fitness, personal attacks, or just the usual California-vs-Washington drama, this one hit a nerve on both sides.
