Gov. Gavin Newsom is the gift that keeps on giving. That’s especially true when it comes to states that are better managed than Newsom’s California.
Now, thanks to Newsom throwing a hissy-fit over people questioning his choices in racial pandering, Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has dunked on him over the chances that a minority might be able to read better in his state than the Golden State.
So, in case you’ve missed the glorious moment, Newsom told the black mayor of Atlanta in front of an audience in a largely black city that what made him “like you” was the fact that he got a 960 on the SAT and he can’t even really read.
But this is apparently okay because he has dyslexia, he told a crowd in Atlanta on Sunday:
.@GavinNewsom Thinks a 960 SAT Makes Him ‘Like’ Black Americans. Let That Sink In. pic.twitter.com/6tOo7L3fqr
— Sean Hannity 🇺🇸 (@seanhannity) February 23, 2026
“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 Mayor Andre Dickens.
“You’ve never seen me read a speech, because I cannot read a speech… Uh, you know, my dyslexia — I haven’t overcome dyslexia. I’m living with it,” he added.
What’s even more sadly hilarious about this remark is that it came during a stop on Newsom’s book tour — as in, a book he’s passing off as being plausibly authored by him.
(We all know that these political memoirs aren’t actually read, much less written, by the figures whose names adorn them, but I’ve never seen an individual disqualify themselves from authorship of a tome in such dramatic and unnecessarily deep terms.)
This led to a fusillade of insults, particularly over the fact that the man who wants to be president admits he can’t even read. So naturally, Mr. Newsom decided to respond to the haters — in this case, Fox News’ Sean Hannity — with a profanity-laced tirade.
“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?” Newsom said in a follow-up post. “Spare me your fake f***ing outrage, Sean.”
WARNING: The following posts contain vulgar language that some readers will find offensive.
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
Let’s leave aside whether or not what Newsom said we should be outraged about actually went down the way he’s framing it. (It didn’t, by the way, but that should hardly surprise anyone.) Let’s instead note that firstly, this doesn’t make his pandering to the black community any more reprehensible. And second, hey, there’s still time — as Reeves pointed out in a response.
“This seems like a good time to remind you that a black student in Mississippi is 2.5X more likely to read proficiently by 4th grade than if he or she lived in California,” he said.
“We would be happy to send one of our reading coaches to assist you, @GavinNewsom. Learning is a lifelong journey, and you might achieve some of the gains that our black fourth graders have,” he added.
“Incidentally, one nice feature of increased literacy is that you do not have to fall back on vulgarity to seem passionate. Let me know!”
This seems like a good time to remind you that a black student in Mississippi is 2.5X more likely to read proficiently by 4th grade than if he or she lived in California. We would be happy to send one of our reading coaches to assist you, @GavinNewsom. Learning is a lifelong… https://t.co/3FqgFQZDEy
— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) February 23, 2026
You know what’s sad? Reeves is actually underselling the proficiency gap between black fourth graders in Mississippi and California.
According to 2024 data from the National Center for Education Statistics, that fourth-grade number is 19 percent for Mississippi and only 7 percent for California.
In fact, these gains in Mississippi’s test scores have been dubbed “the Mississippi Miracle” by some — although Rich Lowry, editor at National Review, explained in an October 2025 syndicated column that this was “a misnomer.”
There’s nothing miraculous about a state that adopts phonics and that sets high standards for its kids getting better results in reading instruction. This, to the contrary, is a predictable outcome, and a replicable one, as other Southern states that have taken up similar polices have shown.
Mississippi went from 49th in fourth-grade reading results on the National Assessment about a decade ago to 9th in 2024. Its low-income children are ranked first in the nation. It’s Black kids are number three in the nation and it’s Hispanic kids number one. Overall, when adjusted for socioeconomics and demographics, Mississippi has the best fourth-grade results in the nation.
The derisive cliche was always, “Thank God for Mississippi,” since it could be trusted to save other states from coming in 50th in various metrics. Now, the phrase can be used with sincerity and admiration, since the state recognized and did something about its literacy crisis.
Which would you rather have if you were a parent: a governor who solves literacy problems, especially among minorities, or a governor who says “I’m like you” because hey, he can’t read either?
The fact that this question isn’t just rhetorical is indicative of just where identity politics has gotten the Democratic Party. Don’t expect any response from Newsom that doesn’t involve a whole heap of asterisks and zero answers.
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