Newsom Lied About Dyslexia, Used it to Get a Pass in College

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a rich kid from an intersection of two powerful dynasties, the Getty family and the Brown family, struggled hard to build a ‘hard-luck’ resume to make the wine country tycoon seem relatable.

After trying to get someone, anyone, to buy into the idea that the son of the Getty bagman who went to an elite school was actually a poor kid, Newsom decided to claim that he struggled because of his dyslexia.

The Newsom ‘dyslexia’ narrative went viral in the worst possible way when he responded to Sen. Ted Cruz calling him historically illiterate by accusing Cruz of bigotry.

“Ted Cruz calling a dyslexic person illiterate is a new low, even for him,” Newsom tweeted idiotically.

Does Newsom even know what ‘dyslexia’ is? It’s a valid question especially considering how it shows up in Newsom’s new memoir where he uses it as a get out of studying card in college.

I found an apartment closer to campus and tried to wrap my brain around a statistics class that stood between me and graduation. I failed it once and then failed it again. Finally I made an appointment with my adviser. Stats aren’t about numbers, I told him. If it were about numbers, I’d have sailed through it. The concepts that underlie it, all these relational things going on, just scramble my brain. “Are you dyslexic?” he asked. “Yes.” “Well, why didn’t you tell me that?” A college education at a Jesuit school had apparently progressed to the point that dyslexia was now part of the lexicon of disabilities that merited leeway. He signed a waiver, and I was handed my diploma.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren would have told him to pretend to be an Indian instead.

What was the basis for Newsom’s claim that he had dyslexia? It’s one of those family stories.

According to his story, he was diagnosed at age five but did not learn of it until years later, when he discovered documents among his mother’s belongings that included the word “dyslexia.” However, it would have been unusual for a 5 year old to receive a formal dyslexia diagnosis in 1972. While some researchers used the term at that time, systematic screening programs didn’t exist and early childhood diagnosis was uncommon. Children with reading difficulties were not identified until deficits became apparent in later grades, and then, they were typically described as having a reading delay rather than labeled “dyslexic.” Newsom has said that he rediscovered these childhood records in recent years, after his parents died

Newsom describes his dyslexia as “undiagnosed” and then claims he was diagnosed at five years old.

Its actual utility seems to be to explain his poor grades, lack of focus and anything stupid that leaves his mouth. Much like Biden’s stutter, it’s supposed to make anyone who notices that he spouts lies and nonsense seem like a bigot, instead of a political critic. It’s pathetic that a powerful and wealthy politician is desperately trying to hide behind victimhood.