California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing backlash after attempting to “relate” to a black elected official by pointing to his low SAT score — a moment critics say exposes the casual, patronizing racism Democrats routinely accuse others of harboring. During a Sunday night appearance promoting his forthcoming memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry,” Newsom told Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens that he wasn’t trying to appear superior. “I’m like you. I’m not better than you,” Newsom said. “I’m a 960 SAT guy.” 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 remark immediately drew scrutiny for what critics described as an implicit assumption: that academic underperformance is a shared point of identity with black Americans. According to 2024 College Board data, the average SAT score for black test takers is 907, compared with 1083 for white students. Newsom, seemingly aware of the sensitivity of his comments, added, “I’m not trying to offend anyone,” before continuing to emphasize his academic shortcomings. “You’ve never seen me read a speech because I cannot read a speech,” he said. The episode has fueled accusations of what Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) labeled the “soft bigotry of low expectations,” a phrase long used to describe leftist rhetoric that cloaks condescension in empathy. This comes after Cruz and Newsom got into an earlier spat over Newsom’s illiteracy. The irony is difficult to miss. Newsom has built his political brand on elite credentials and progressive moral posturing, yet his own biography is steeped in institutional advantage. He graduated from Santa Clara University in 1989, having received a letter of recommendation from then-Gov. Jerry Brown, who had appointed Newsom’s father to a California appellate judgeship. Newsom has insisted the recommendation played no role in his admission, telling The New York Times earlier this month that his acceptance came through a partial baseball scholarship. Still, critics argue the governor’s attempt to downplay privilege while leaning on racial signaling only underscores the contradiction. As recently as a few weeks ago, Newsom framed himself as the moral referee of American discourse, condemning what he called racist imagery allegedly shared by Donald Trump and aimed at Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.  Newsom insisted the offense should have ended careers, demanded public contrition, and warned that allowing such rhetoric to pass unpunished degraded the country. Now, just weeks later, Newsom himself is actively circulating racially charged tropes, of the President’s video, he said, “It’s disgraceful. It’s racist. It’s abhorrent, the President of the United States sending out a racist trope should disgust every human being in this room.” Public reaction was swift. Rapper Nicki Minaj weighed in, scorching Gavin Newsom in a lengthy post, accusing him of deliberately talking down to a black audience. “His way of bonding with black ppl is to tell them how stupid he is & that he can’t read,” she wrote. “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. “Do you wanna know the craziest part of this footage that will haunt him forever? He’s literally slowing his speech down & talking in a sporadic cadence. “He’s not just TELLING them that they’re all probably stupid & probably can’t read, he’s LITERALLY SLOW-ING-DOWN-HIS-SPEECH to make them understand the words that are coming out of his mouth!!!! As if they’re children!!!! That means he REALLY BELIEVES they’re slow. He’s not just saying it—he didn’t misspeak!!!! He BELIEVES it!!!! “Do ya love it?!?! Do ya just love it, black ppl?!?!?” Representative Randy Fine (R-FL) wrote on X that Newsom “just said he is like a black person because he got a bad SAT score and can’t read,” calling the remark “disgusting.”  Newsom offered a tepid response on Monday, attempting to deflect from the seeming racial implications of his statements by bringing up his dyslexia again. “You didn’t give a sh*t about the President of the United States of America posting an ape video of President Obama or calling African nations sh*tholes,” Newsom wrote in response to Fox News’ Sean Hannity, “but you’re going to call me racist for talking about my lifelong struggle with dyslexia? Spare me your fake f*cking outrage, Sean.” For a party that relentlessly polices language and lectures Americans about implicit bias, Newsom’s remarks offer a revealing glimpse into how Democratic elites often talk when they think they’re being relatable, reducing minority voters to stereotypes, then congratulating themselves for empathy.