President Trump said Thursday that California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s learning disability should disqualify him from running for president.
Earlier this month, Mr. Newsom, a Democrat who is considered a front-runner for his party’s 2028 presidential nomination, openly talked about his struggle with dyslexia. The learning disorder involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and how they relate to letters, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Mr. Trump said that Mr. Newsom shouldn’t even be running for president because of the learning disability.
“I believe he took himself out of the running when he says he suffers from a mental disability,” Mr. Trump said.
“I don’t want a person with a mental disability to be my president. You don’t want to have a person with a mental disability being your president. Gavin Newsom said he can’t read a speech. He can’t do almost anything,” Mr. Trump said.
The International Dyslexia Association says dyslexia is caused by a combination of “genetic, neurobiological, and environmental influences.”
The president then pivoted to comments Mr. Newsom made last month in Atlanta, when he tried to connect with a predominantly Black audience by talking about his low SAT scores and difficulty reading. Critics blasted the California governor’s remarks as racist.
“He said he’s as dumb as all the people in the room and he got accused of being a racist, which was amazing. I thought it was the worst interview I’ve ever seen anybody give,” Mr. Trump said.
