California Governor Gavin Newsom<\/strong> <\/a>wants you to know he\u2019s just a regular guy. He can\u2019t read. He barely passed the SATs. He grew up scraping by on frozen lasagna and mac and cheese \u2014 never mind the billionaire family friends, the winery empire, or the $30 million net worth.<\/p>\n And on Sunday night at the Rialto Center for the Arts in Atlanta, he wanted a predominantly Black audience to know that too. That he\u2019s just like them. Because he can\u2019t read.<\/p>\n Newsom was in Georgia for the launch of his memoir, Young Man in a Hurry<\/em>, seated alongside Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens<\/strong><\/a> for a conversation hosted by A Cappella Books. The event doubled as a political appearance \u2014 Newsom endorsed former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for governor earlier that day, and his multi-state book tour has all the subtlety of a 2028 presidential exploratory committee.<\/p>\n When Dickens asked what he hoped readers would take from the book, Newsom leaned in with what was clearly meant to be disarming vulnerability.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not trying to impress you,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to impress upon you I\u2019m like you. I\u2019m no better than you. I\u2019m a 960 SAT guy.\u201d<\/p>\n He paused. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to offend anyone \u2014 trying to act all there if you got 940.\u201d<\/p>\n Then: \u201cYou\u2019ve never seen me read a speech, because I cannot read a speech. Maybe the wrong business to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n The audience chuckled. Dickens nodded along. And then the clip hit the internet \u2014 where it has now been viewed over 35 million times.<\/p>\n Gov. Newsom to a black crowd in GA: \u201cI am like you. I\u2019m a 960 SAT guy. I can\u2019t read.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/4Gk0WKbIYz<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Here\u2019s where Newsom\u2019s self-deprecation starts to curdle. The average SAT score for Black test-takers, according to 2024 College Board data, is 907 out of 1600. The national average is 1024. Newsom scored 960 \u2014 and chose to tell a room in a city that is nearly half Black that his below-average score was evidence they were the same.<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t bonding over shared policy frustrations or economic anxiety. He chose test scores and the inability to read. The question nobody in the room asked him was the one the internet couldn\u2019t stop asking: What exactly did he think the audience had in common with him?<\/p>\n Sitting between Newsom and Dickens during the entire exchange was a copy of Young Man in a Hurry<\/em> \u2014 the book Newsom wrote, the book that brought him to Atlanta, the book that costs up to $100 for a premium-seat ticket to hear him discuss.<\/p>\n A man promoting a book he wrote told people he can\u2019t read. The contradiction was right there on the table. Literally.<\/p>\n Newsom has spoken publicly for years about living with dyslexia, and he mentioned it again Sunday \u2014 the kid in the back of the classroom praying the teacher wouldn\u2019t call on him. That\u2019s a real struggle. But struggling with dyslexia and telling a predominantly Black audience \u201cI\u2019m like you \u2014 I can\u2019t read\u201d are two very different conversations. Newsom merged them into one.<\/p>\n His way of bonding with black ppl is to tell them how stupid he is & that he can\u2019t read.<\/p>\n This means my first read on him was correct. He\u2019s been handed so many things & put in high positions he never earned or deserved.<\/p>\n Do you wanna know the craziest part of this footage that\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/llo1k7F7wB<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) February 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Rapper Nicki Minaj posted an extended response on X that went further than most. \u201cHis way of bonding with black ppl is to tell them how stupid he is & that he can\u2019t read,\u201d she wrote. Then she pointed to something subtler \u2014 his delivery. \u201cHe\u2019s literally slowing his speech down & talking in a sporadic cadence. As if they\u2019re children.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the clip again with that lens. Then compare it to any of his podcast appearances or press conferences from the past six months.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t Newsom\u2019s first stumble with the regular-guy routine. His father was a state appeals court judge who managed the Getty family trust \u2014 valued in the billions. The Gettys took young Gavin on vacations to Canada and Kenya. At 24, Gordon Getty bankrolled Newsom\u2019s first business: PlumpJack wine shop, which grew into an empire of wineries, restaurants, and hotels. That same year, he appeared in a San Francisco Chronicle feature titled, with no apparent irony, \u201cChildren of the Rich.\u201d<\/p>\n None of that disqualifies someone from public service. But it makes \u201cI\u2019m just like you\u201d ring hollow when you\u2019re saying it to a room of people who probably didn\u2019t have a billionaire funding their first business.<\/p>\n Newsom\u2019s spokesperson dismissed the backlash as \u201cMAGA-manufactured outrage,\u201d noting the governor has told this story to many audiences, including conservative ones. Which is true \u2014 but also kind of the point. The question isn\u2019t whether he\u2019s said it before. It\u2019s why he chose SAT scores and illiteracy as the bridge to a predominantly Black audience in Atlanta, during a trip designed to court the very voters Democrats need in Georgia.<\/p>\n Newsom himself went further. Responding directly to Sean Hannity on X, he told him to \u201cspare me your fake fucking outrage\u201d and pivoted to Trump\u2019s history of racially charged rhetoric \u2014 the \u201cape video\u201d of President Obama, the \u201cshitholes\u201d comment about African nations.<\/p>\n You didn\u2019t give a shit about the President of the United States of America posting an ape video of President Obama or calling African nations shitholes \u2014 but you\u2019re going to call me racist for talking about my lifelong struggle with dyslexia?<\/p>\n Spare me your fake fucking outrage,\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/ABNZJQJLcj<\/a><\/p>\n\u2018I\u2019m Like You\u2019<\/h2>\n
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His SAT score is still higher than the average Black test-taker\u2019s<\/h2>\n
He was literally sitting next to a book with his name on it<\/h2>\n
\u2018As If They\u2019re Children\u2019<\/h2>\n
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The \u2018Grew Up Poor\u2019 Problem<\/h2>\n
![\"America\"](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/igrewuppoor.jpg\"\/ "\\"America\\"")
![\"Andre](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/igrewuppoor.jpg\" "\\"Andre")
His team says he\u2019s said this before. That doesn\u2019t help.<\/h2>\n
![\"Atlanta\"](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/politiking-1.jpg\"\/ "\\"Atlanta\\"")
![\"Gettys\"](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/politiking-1.jpg\" "\\"Gettys\\"")
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