Gavin Newsom has found himself trending for all the wrong reasons. The California governor pulled up to Atlanta, Georgia to promote his memoir, Young Man in a Hurry, and during a sit-down conversation with Andre Dickens, he tried to connect with Black voters by opening up about his struggles in school. Unfortunately it didn’t quite go as planned…
While speaking, Newsom shared that he scored a 960 on the SAT and spoke candidly about dealing with dyslexia. But it was how he said it that had folks side-eyeing him heavy. He told the crowd:
“I’m not trying to impress you — I’m just trying to impress upon you that I’m like you. I’m no better than you. I’m a 960 SAT guy. You’ve never seen me read a speech because I cannot read a speech. Trying to further break it down, he said, “You’ve never seen me read a speech because I cannot read a speech.”
Now in his mind, it seems like he was trying to say, “I’ve struggled too. I get it.” He framed it as being transparent about his educational challenges and wanting voters to understand that he didn’t have a perfect academic journey.
But baby… social media heard something else.
Critics immediately accused him of talking down to the very audience he was trying to bond with. And one person who wasted no time chiming in? Nicki Minaj.
“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 will haunt him forever? He’s literally slowing his speech down & talking in a sporadic cadence.”“He’s not just TELLING them that they’re all probably stupid & probably can’t read, he’s LITERALLY SLOW-ING-DOWN-HIS-SPEECH to make them understand the words that are coming out of his mouth!!!! As if they’re children!!!! That means he REALLY BELIEVES they’re slow. He’s not just saying it—he didn’t misspeak!!!! He BELIEVES it!!!! Do ya love it?!?!! Do ya just love it, black ppl?!????” Whew.”
Now, Newsom didn’t clap back at Nicki directly, but he did respond to another critic, and he came swinging. He referenced a controversial video shared by Donald Trump that depicted Barack Obama as a monkey.
He fired back:
“You didn’t give a s*** about the President of the United States of America posting an ape video of President Obama or calling African nations s***holes — but you’re going to call me racist for talking about my lifelong struggle with dyslexia?”
Whew! Socialites, how do you feel about this? Sound off in the comment box below!