Gavin Newsom Can't Keep His Stories Straight

AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

Ed wrote yesterday about Gavin Newsom's bizarre performance in which his pitch to black voters is that he is just as stupid as they are

It's the typical Democrat pitch by now. Joe Biden made the same pitch during the 2020 presidential campaign, and Kathy Hochul famously insisted that black kids hadn't even heard of computers. 

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And, of course, there is the whole "black people and women are too stupid to get IDs" pitch. 

They justify their racism, or at least try to soften the blow, by claiming victimhood themselves. Newsom's "I can't read" because of dyslexia excuse for comparing himself to black people, who apparently can't use computers or read themselves, is intended to create a bond between himself and his fellow dummies. 

Susan Crabtree of RealClearPolitics wanted to get some specifics about Newsom's claims, so she did something few reporters do anymore: she asked. She got a NSFW response from the Governor's office, because that is how Democrats roll these days. 

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Since Newsom and his office won't directly address the issue of Newsom's ability to read—it IS kinda striking that a man who claims to be illiterate wants to be President of the United States—we are left to look at Newsom's previous claims and try to figure out whether this is all performance for the benefit of the stupid blacks (his assertion, not mine). 

Newsom has made his dyslexia and illiteracy part of this campaign, so it is fair to ask: Is he, in fact, cripplingly dyslexic and incapable of reading, or is this all a flex to get some victim points? 

It turns out that Newsom's story about his ability to read depends entirely on his audience. When speaking to some people, he tells us that he is a speed reader who can suck all the marrow out of a book in record time, while, when speaking to other audiences he is incapable of reading, just like them. 

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I'm not sure about my own reading speed—I am a voracious reader, and read relatively quickly, but have never measured my per page speed because it doesn't matter. But I doubt that I could read and comprehend well a book of 260 pages in an hour and a half or a bit more, as Newsom claimed he did in this instance. 

Severely dyslexic? What was it, a graphic novel? 

On the other hand, when he gave an "aw, shucks" interview to Ezra Klein, he said he couldn't read. 

It's the same thing we see with Gavin Newsom's stories about his growing up in poverty, which are about as absurd as his claim that he cannot read, except that he can speed-read. Newsom's father was a confidant and lawyer for the Getty Oil family, and it was the Gettys who staked him and made him wealthy. 

Democrats have total contempt for the voters, and there is no group of voters for whom they have more contempt than black people. Blacks have become such a reliable voting bloc for Democrats that their condescension oozes out of them. They haven't spent a moment of time with ordinary black people that they have only the most crude stereotype of them, which is as nuanced as their stereotype of MAGA voters. 

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Newsom's line of bulls**t is the natural result. He lies to everybody all the time, and he gets away with it because Democrats are not required to make any sense at all. They are rarely asked challenging questions, and when they are, they get amazingly offended and huffy. You saw that with AOC in Munich, where she stumbled right out of the gate when asked a real question, and you see that with Katie Porter, who will storm off from an interview when asked a serious question. 

Republicans are making fun of Newsom's apparent racism, and have every right to. But there is an alternative explanation for his and every other Democrat's talking down to black people: they have contempt for EVERYBODY outside their clique. 

They think blacks, whites, browns, reds, yellows, and the entire rainbow on whatever flag they wave is actually an idiot worthy of contempt, and they pander to (or degrade and insult) the hoi polloi in equal measure. 

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NEWSOM: “We had about 1000 employees at peak. I’m not saying that to impress you, but to impress upon you how entrepreneurialism has defined my life. But it was also defined in relationship to the Getty family.”

“And with that came this notion…well, it was handed to you. It was given to you. You inherited it.”

“As opposed to the hard work and that that grind that defined the lived experience.”

Bash fired back.

BASH: “Can it be both?”

“You have the hard work and grind…and you had doors opened.”

Newsom tried to play it down, but Bash reloaded.

NEWSOM: “Yeah…oh no…and that’s—”

BASH: “I mean, it’s not just the Getty’s…your grandfather and your father were both VERY connected in San Francisco.”

Later, Newsom tried to pitch his lavish trips in his youth as “adventures,” but Bash once again hit him with a dose of reality.

BASH: “These weren’t just adventures.”

“You went on safaris, you took pictures from helicopters. You were partying with Jack Nicholson…”

Gavin Newsom's superpower is being such a good liar. He is very fluid when he lies, and since no journalist will call him out, it is up to the people to whom he is making his pitch to be discerning. 

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Gavin Newsom can't keep his story straight, as I said at the outset. But in this media environment, he believes he doesn't have to, and so far he has been right. 

Whether that remains true once he faces a real opponent has yet to be seen. 

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | February 23, 2026
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