California Gov. Gavin Newsom railed against accusations of racism from right-wing commentators on Monday, calling their concern “fake f**king outrage.”
The mini-controversy around Newsom came after he had a sit down with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. Speaking on his new memoir, which details the governor’s struggle with dyslexia, Newsom laid on an everyman schtick.
“I’m not trying to impress you. I’m just trying to impress upon you, I am like you. I am no better than you. I am a 960 SAT guy,” he said. “And I’m not trying to offend anyone, [or] act all there if you got 940. But literally a 960 SAT guy. You have never seen me read a speech, because I cannot read a speech.”
Conservative outlets took Newsom’s “like you” assertion to be racially motivated, extrapolating from their that Newsom assumed the mayor of Atlanta, who is Black, could not read. Rapper and recent Donald Trump booster Nicki Minaj said as much on social media.
“His way of bonding with black ppl is to tell them how stupid he is & that he can’t read,” she wrote on X.
Sean Hannity took a similar tack, posting his thoughts in Boomer capitalization.
“[Gavin Newsom] Thinks a 960 SAT Makes Him ‘Like’ Black Americans. Let That Sink In,” he wrote.
.@GavinNewsom Thinks a 960 SAT Makes Him ‘Like’ Black Americans. Let That Sink In. pic.twitter.com/6tOo7L3fqr
— Sean Hannity 🇺🇸 (@seanhannity) February 23, 2026
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Newsom replied to Hannity, calling him a hypocrite for his failure to critique the president over obvious instances of racism.
“You didn’t give a s**t about the President of the United States of America posting an ape video of President Obama or calling African nations s**tholes — but you’re going to call me racist for talking about my lifelong struggle with dyslexia?” he asked. “Spare me your fake f**king outrage, Sean.”
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