Gavin Newsom has gotten plenty of praise for his decision to hire a group of 20-something progressives to run his social media accounts. I'm actually not quite sure if they are posting on his personal account, but if so someone might be having a bad day of a recent tweet.
So the backstory here is brief. Yesterday, Ted Cruz posted a clip from his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz, in which he referred to Gavin Newsom as "historically illiterate." The phrase "historically illiterate" has a meaning that I think most adults are familiar with. It means someone who lacks knowledge of the past.
In this case, Cruz was calling Newsom that because Newsom claimed the National Guard had never been federalized in the states. But as Cruz pointed out, this had happened when President Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard to enforce desegregation in schools. That was in 1957. Cruz then goes on to draw a parallel saying that in both cases (1957 and today) you had Democrats objecting to federal authority. Here's the clip.
Gavin Newsom is historically illiterate.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 16, 2026
We break down his attacks on law enforcement on Verdict: https://t.co/JNIRtlWJ7l pic.twitter.com/2Zg64oLahE
That must have stung a bit because Newsom (or someone working for him) responded with this non-sequitur attempt to make himself a victim.
Ted Cruz calling a dyslexic person illiterate is a new low, even for him. https://t.co/XC75ybiGKd
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) February 16, 2026
As you can see, this resulted in a ratio for Newsom. The tweet has more responses than it does likes and retweets combined. And the responses are almost all negative.
It appears you are really just stupid.
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) February 17, 2026
I knew you were stupid, but I did not think you were this stupid. I ought to have allowed for your non-stop partisan animus. Go back to your Brylcreem, you insufferable, left-wing tool.
— Roger Kimball (@rogerkimball) February 17, 2026
Haha wow. This is AOC 'equator' level stuff.
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) February 17, 2026
This is the greatest thing you've ever posted.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 17, 2026
Hey Gav, I think you misread what he posted. He wrote "historically illiterate," not "hysterically illiterate."
— Deb Heine (@NiceDeb) February 17, 2026
The community note sums up the problem with this tweet pretty well:
Senator Cruz did not refer to Governor Newsom’s ability to read but rather his knowledge of history. Historically illiterate refers to knowledge of history. Newsom left the word historically out of the original tweet which says “historically illiterate”
In fact, Newsom's inability to parse what Cruz said sort of does make you wonder how literate he is.
Thinking "historically illiterate" makes you functionally illiterate is what tells me you are in fact illiterate
— Peachy Keenan (@KeenanPeachy) February 16, 2026
Another possibility? This the old game progressives play where they pretend not to understand what words mean to avoid taking responsibility or accountability.
— Staci (@Staciopath) February 17, 2026
For how many years did the left pretend that critical race theory was something that only graduate students were being taught? Anyway, it does seem like a gimmick. Oh, poor me. I'm dyslexic and I'm under attack! He'd rather spew that nonsense than admit he lied or was just plain ignorant about the National Guard thing.
Hello Governor Newsom,
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) February 17, 2026
Stop.
Before you posted this, no one including @tedcruz knew you had dyslexia.
He questioned your grasp of basic facts. You chose to reinterpret that as an attack on a learning disability he didn’t reference and didn’t know about.
That’s the sleight…
Stop.
Before you posted this, no one including @tedcruz knew you had dyslexia.
He questioned your grasp of basic facts. You chose to reinterpret that as an attack on a learning disability he didn’t reference and didn’t know about.
That’s the sleight of hand.
By reframing criticism of your argument as discrimination against dyslexia, you’re using a real disability as a shield. That move exploits people with dyslexia. It turns a disagreement over facts into a claim of discrimination without evidence.
People can see the difference.
You're something else to pull the victimhood card when you're the child of wealth who came into winery success, then governorship thanks to familial connections.
You are the ableist one here, Governor.
Not Senator Cruz.
Kindly go do unmentionable things to yourself.
Anyway, this is the dumbest, most embarassing thing Newsom has tweeted in a while and the fact that it came from his personal account means it might have actually come from him, not his team of dopey trolls (though admittedly it reads like something the dopey trolls would have written).
The theater kids running your social media might just save the GOP pic.twitter.com/0Q6DIDlFzO
— Sam Thomas (@SamuelDAThomas) February 17, 2026
The last word goes to Ted Cruz who ably responded with two tweets.
I didn’t say you couldn’t read, you 🤡
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 17, 2026
I said you were “historically illiterate”…
….because you apparently have no idea that Eisenhower federalized the national guard to stop Dem governors from defying federal law.
Specifically, on September 23, 1957, President Eisenhower… https://t.co/63z3botBKs
This one is funny.
https://t.co/63z3bou9A0 pic.twitter.com/C1fi99axwq
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 17, 2026
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