Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom was torched online after accusing Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz of mocking his dyslexia, when Cruz had actually called him “historically illiterate.”
Newsom has detailed his dyslexia difficulties over the years, stating school was incredibly challenging for him growing up. On Monday afternoon, Cruz posted a clip from his podcast discussing how “historically illiterate” Newsom is.
“By the way, just like AOC and [Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer, Newsom is apparently thoroughly historically illiterate. He said, ‘We’ve never seen National Guards federalized in the states.’ I guess his history book does not discuss the Civil Rights Movement. He’s never heard of a president named Dwight D. Eisenhower. He’s never heard of sending the National Guard into southern states when Democrats, who refused to desegregate schools, resisted,” Cruz said.
“Eisenhower sent the National Guard in. The pattern is the same. In this instance, you have Democrats who are saying, ‘We refuse to comply with federal immigration law.’ Then you had, in the 50s and 60s, you had Democrats saying, ‘We refuse to comply with civil rights law,’” Cruz added. “In both instances, it is lawless Democrats attacking law enforcement. You know, Gavin Newsom is proudly following the tradition of Bull Connor, another Democrat politician.”
In response to Cruz’s video, Newsom then posted that the Republican senator “calling a dyslexic person illiterate is a new low, even for him.” However, many were quick to call out the Democrat’s mistake.
“Thinking ‘historically illiterate’ makes you functionally illiterate is what tells me you are in fact illiterate,” writer Peachy Keenan posted in response to Newsom.
“Oh so you’re actually retarded?” South Korean streamer Kangmin Lee also wrote.
A community note from X was also attached to Newsom’s post about Cruz, stating that the Texas senator “did not refer to Governor Newsom’s ability to read but rather his knowledge of history.”
“Confirming yourself illiterate by falsely accusing someone else of calling you illiterate is some Michael Scott shit,” Capital Research investigative researcher Parker Thayer wrote about Newsom’s response.
“Between AOC not knowing that Venezuela is north of the equator and Gavin Newsom not knowing the difference between illiterate and ‘historically illiterate,’ this has been a real banner few days for the intellectual wing of the Democratic Party,” Outkick writer Ian Miller added.
GOP strategist Erin Maguire teased that Newsom is “much dumber than any of us expected.”
“He called you ‘historically illiterate,’ which means you don’t know basic history. You not having ever heard of this phrase or knowing what it means makes you a moron,” Outkick founder Clay Travis wrote.
“It’s true, Gavin has a very severe form of dyslexia. He gets mixed up between one word versus another, his wife versus another person‘s wife, etc,” Right to Life California Director John Gerardi added.
Cruz additionally responded to Newsom’s accusation on Monday, clarifying that he didn’t state the Democrat governor couldn’t read.
“I said you were ‘historically illiterate,’” Cruz wrote. ” … because you apparently have no idea that Eisenhower federalized the national guard to stop Dem governors from defying federal law. Specifically, on September 23, 1957, President Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10730, federalizing the Arkansas National Guard & ordering U.S. Army troops (101st Airborne Div) to Little Rock, Arkansas. This action broke the blockade by Dem Gov Orval Faubus, allowing the Little Rock Nine to desegregate Central High School.”
Throughout Newsom’s time in office he has discussed growing up with dyslexia, and how that crossed over into his low SAT scores. In 2019, he highlighted how the state’s budget from that year provided funding for dyslexia.
“This one is personal for me: Our new budget provides funding for research on dyslexia and neurodiversity — opening new doors for discovery on diagnosis and treatment,” Newsom wrote in a 2019 post.
Newsom has yet to comment on the post as of Tuesday.
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