To every blind person: Don’t let anyone — not even the head of the Federal Aviation Administration — tell you that you can’t pilot a commercial jet.
To every married atheist: Don’t let anyone — not even the pope — tell you that you can’t become a priest.
To every person without legs: Don’t let anyone — not even the ghost of Vince Lombardi — tell you that you can’t become a kicker in the NFL.
If those musings all sound stupid to you, well, that’s because they should. They are stupid. But don’t tell that to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the left, who are having a hissy fit that President Donald Trump pointed out someone who claims to have a serious learning disability probably shouldn’t be in in an exigent position that requires a profound amount of information absorption — namely, the president of the United States, the leader of the free world.
So in case you haven’t been following Newsom’s presidential campaign (and let’s face facts — he may not have officially declared, but that’s what it is), the California governor has been making quite a big deal about his dyslexia.
While he’d mentioned the learning disability in passing at other moments during his career, it went viral in a bad way last month when he told the black mayor of a city where the Democratic base is predominantly black that “I’m like you” because he couldn’t read a speech and got a 960 on his SATs.
Gov. Newsom to a black crowd in GA: “I am like you. I’m a 960 SAT guy. I can’t read.” pic.twitter.com/4Gk0WKbIYz
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 23, 2026
The big kerfuffle regarding that was the barely latent racism inherent in the remarks, but not enough attention was paid to the fact that this was a man who is running for president and admitting that “you’ve never seen me read a speech, because I cannot read a speech.” Yikes.
Attention was paid by President Donald Trump on Monday, when he called Newsom a “low-IQ person” in an event at the White House, according to The Hill.
“Gavin ‘Newscum’ has admitted that he is a — that he has learning disabilities,” Trump said. “Honestly, I’m all for people with learning disabilities, but not for my president. I don’t want — I think a president should not have learning disabilities, OK?”
“And I know it’s highly controversial to say such a horrible thing. The president of the United States — Gavin Newscum admitted that he has learning disabilities, dyslexia,” Trump continued. “Everything about him is dumb.”
“Gavin Newscum has admitted he has learning disabilities. Honestly, I’m all for people with learning disabilities, but not for my president. I don’t want— I think a president should not have learning disabilities, okay? And I know it’s highly controversial to say such a horrible… pic.twitter.com/aLDR5aKORn
— Crooked Media (@CrookedMedia) March 16, 2026
There were several lines of attack here, the first being that Trump had actually called Newsom the president of the United States while attacking him for being dumb. I get the feeling he was riffing on the idea of Newsom being the president of the United States, but hey, fair game:
Trump:
“The President of the United States Gavin Newscum admitted that he has learning disabilities.”
Yes, he actually called @GavinNewsom the “President of the United States” while trying to insult his cognition. pic.twitter.com/osEohVmupQ
— Adam Schwarz (@AdamJSchwarz) March 16, 2026
However, say this much for Trump: At least he can read a speech, which is more than Newsom admits he can do.
And then there was Newsom, who called this bullying:
To every kid with a learning disability: don’t let anyone — not even the President of the United States — bully you.
Dyslexia isn’t a weakness.
It’s your strength.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 17, 2026
“Dyslexia isn’t a weakness. It’s your strength,” he said.
Again, try that with anything else. Blindness is your secret strength as a pilot. Leglessness is your secret strength as an NFL kicker. Doesn’t quite work, does it?
Herein lies the problem with the pearl-clutching surrounding Trump’s remarks: They’re accurate. Saying you can’t read a speech makes you relatable if you’re a middle-manager. If your ability to absorb information is the difference between life and death, victory and defeat, prosperity and recession, then no — it’s not a “strength,” and hiding behind the cloak of political correctness doesn’t cut it when you’re running to be the leader of the free world.
If he had any kind of decent record to speak of, maybe this would be a different story. He doesn’t. Despite being mediagenic, Newsom has done nothing while governor of California to distinguish himself policy-wise. He’s a profligate spender who hasn’t solved any of his state’s numerous problems, which is probably why residents keep voting with their feet and leaving the Golden State.
So, we’re supposed to expect that a guy who says he can’t really read is going to step up his game when the job gets exponentially harder?
The left may call Trump’s comments callous. Newsom may call them “bullying.” The rest of us should heed them as merely accurate. This is the most important job in the world, and we should stop pretending that Newsom’s self-professed dyslexia shouldn’t factor into it.
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