by Frank Holmes, reporter
As the Democratic Party embraces Woke white liberals like Abigail Spanberger, it has created a problem with one of its most reliable voting blocs—and a leading 2028 presidential hopeful just made the problem much, much worse.
California Gavin Newsom just went viral for all the wrong reasons: He said he’s a lot like black voters, because he also isn’t very smart and can’t read.
“I’m not trying to impress you. I’m just trying to impress upon you I’m like you. I’m no better than you. I’m a 960 SAT guy,” Newsom told Atlanta’s black, Democratic mayor, Andrew Dickens. “And I’m not trying to offend anyone; trying to act all, there, if you got 940. But literally (I’m) a 960 SAT guy.”
“You’ve never seen me read a speech, because I cannot read a speech,” Newsome said. “Maybe I’m in the wrong business to be in.”
Newsom made his remarks in Atlanta Saturday during an event called “An Evening with Gavin Newsom and Andre Dickins.”
Gavin—who supposedly can’t read—scheduled the event to promote the new book he allegedly wrote, titled Young Man in a Hurry.
If Newsom thinks the best way to win votes is to insult his audience based on crude racial stereotypes, maybe he is in the wrong business.
President Joe Biden found that out after he told a campaign audience, “Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids!”
The rebuffs came in fast and furious.
Hip hop singer and Trump supporter Nicki Minaj blasted Newsom for talking down to black voters. “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!!!!” posted Minaj.
To make things worse, this is not the first time Newsom has made a fool of himself trying to pander to the black vote.
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
Just a few months ago Newsom tried to sound like Steve Martin in the movie The Jerk: “I was born a poor black child.”
Newsom claimed he had a tough childhood with a single mother, just like his black audience. “It was also about paying the bills, man. It was just, like, hustling. And so I was out there kind of raising myself,” Newsom told the All the Smoke podcast in October 2025 in a fake black accent. “Sitting there with the Wonder Bread… macaroni and cheese. Kraft macaroni and cheese, that’s how I grew up, Bro.”
The fact is, Newsom’s dad managed the billionaire Getty family’s trust fund, and Gavin Newsom’s high school voted him “most stylish” dresser based on his preppy, young-yuppie wardrobe.
Newsom got into college, in part, because he received letters of recommendation from former California Governor Jerry Brown, who twice ran for president as a Democrat.
"It was about paying the bills, man. It was just like hustling. And uh I was out there kinda raising myself. Turning on the TV. Started you know becoming obsessed. Sitting there with the Wonder Bread 5 stacks, peanut butter, Mac 'n cheese. That's how I grew up, bro." – Gavin… https://t.co/vwMQNAaxPL pic.twitter.com/nrlAmdaEdC
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) February 23, 2026
Newsom tried to walk back his racist-sounding comments by claiming he was “talking about my lifelong struggle with dyslexia.”
That was a good try—but the comments did more than show Newsom’s privileged insensitivity. They created a much, much deeper issue for the 2028 presidential hopeful.
You didn’t give a shit about the President of the United States of America posting an ape video of President Obama or calling African nations shitholes — but you’re going to call me racist for talking about my lifelong struggle with dyslexia?
Spare me your fake fucking outrage,… https://t.co/ABNZJQJLcj
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) February 23, 2026
Newsom’s shtick makes voters wonder if they can ever trust him. Newsom “just handed the JD Vance/Marco Rubio ticket pure political gold that will haunt him forevermore,” said Breitbart’s John Nolte before comparing Newsom’s phoniness to another famous presidential failure.
“Racism aside, there is also the sweaty phoniness. Newsom is a child of privilege. Running around pretending different will never fly. Mitt Romney tried to run from his wealth, and look where that got him,” wrote Nolte.
Romney also tried to bond with a black family that asked him for a selfie by ad-libbing, “Who let the dogs out?” It didn’t help—and it won’t help Newsom.
President Donald Trump was himself and won approximately 28 percent of the black vote in 2024, mostly driven by black men—something The Horn reported sent shivers down the Democratic Party’s spine.
But recent polls show President Trump’s support crumbling with all demographics, even Republicans. A recent CNN poll showed his support among non-white voters fell 13 percent in the last year.
As Americans are concerned with kitchen table issues and “affordability,” the president’s communications team tells them they’re already living in a “new golden age.” The president seems to be pivoting to foreign policy, bombing Iran last July, increasing foreign aid to Ukraine, and talking about launching a massive military engagement with Iran yet again.
If President Trump doesn’t focus on American concerns, he might leave a hole big enough for a total phony like Newsome to ride his fake black childhood into the White House in 2028.