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California Governor Gavin Newsom has come under fire for alleged racism following comments about his SAT score during a conversation with a Black elected official over the weekend.
During a Sunday evening event promoting his upcoming memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry,” Newsom told Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, “I’m not trying to impress you, I’m just trying to impress upon you, ‘I’m like you. I’m not better than you.’ I’m a 960 SAT guy.”
The potential Democratic candidate for 2028 continued, “I’m not trying to offend anyone, and I’m not trying to act all there if you got 940 … You’ve never seen me read a speech because I cannot read a speech.”
According to College Board data from 2024, the average SAT score for Black or African-American students, who represent 12% of those taking the test, is 907 out of a possible 1600.
In contrast, white students have an average score of 1083.
Newsom graduated from Santa Clara University in 1989, supported by a letter of recommendation from Jerry Brown, a former two-term California governor, who appointed Newsom’s father as a judge on the state appellate court.
The current governor has claimed in his book that the only reason he was admitted to Santa Clara was because he was offered a partial scholarship to play baseball.
“I don’t think it’s relevant at all,” Newsom told the New York Times earlier this month in reference to the Brown letter. “The ticket to Santa Clara came through the baseball, not anything else. And that was the point I was making in the book.”
Newsom, 58, was roundly criticized for his comments.
“Gavin Newsom just said he is like a black person because he got a bad SAT score and can’t read,” Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.), who has his own history of controversial comments, wrote on X.
“I wish I could come up with something witty, but it’s so disgusting, I can’t. I look forward to all my Democrat colleagues in Congress demanding his resignation tomorrow.”
Sen.Ted Cruz (R-Texas) accused Newsom of practicing “the soft bigotry of low expectations” and reposted a message from political scientist Carol M. Swain, who wrote: “Liberal racism on display.”
Music star Nicki Minaj also lambasted Newsom after attacking him during an event last month.
“His way of bonding with black ppl is to tell them how stupid he is & that he can’t read,” she wrote on X.
“This means my first read on him was correct. He’s been handed so many things & put in high positions he never earned or deserved.”
Conservative podcaster Stephen L. Miller shared an image of Navin Johnson, Steve Martin’s character in the 1979 film “The Jerk,” who famously claimed that “I was born a poor black child.”
“Gavin Newsom rolling into 2028,” Miller captioned his post.
Newsom shared video of the event on X Monday morning, nullifying claims that the whole audience was black. His office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
