Newsom Faces Backlash After I’m Like You SAT Comment

California Governor Gavin Newsom is facing a wave of backlash after a comment meant to sound relatable instead ignited accusations of racial condescension.

During a Sunday appearance promoting his upcoming memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry,” Newsom told Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, “I’m like you. I’m not better than you. I’m a 960 SAT guy.”

The remark quickly went viral and critics argue it revealed more than the governor may have intended.

Newsom’s attempt to connect with Dickens centered on his own academic struggles. He added that he has difficulty reading speeches and referenced his dyslexia, saying, “You’ve never seen me read a speech because I cannot read a speech.”

But the juxtaposition of “I’m like you” with a low SAT score drew immediate scrutiny.

According to 2024 College Board data:

• The average SAT score for Black test takers is 907

• The average for white students is 1083

• The national average score sits around 1028

Critics argue that invoking a below-average SAT score while telling a black official “I’m like you” implied an unspoken stereotype even if that was not Newsom’s stated intent.

Senator Ted Cruz invoked the phrase “soft bigotry of low expectations,” a long-used critique of rhetoric that critics say masks condescension as empathy.

Representative Randy Fine wrote that Newsom’s comment was “disgusting,” while social media reaction intensified when rapper Nicki Minaj accused the governor of deliberately slowing his speech and talking down to a black audience.

Minaj wrote that Newsom appeared to be “literally slowing down his speech” as if addressing children, calling the moment revealing rather than accidental.

The backlash was swift and bipartisan in tone, with some commentators arguing the episode highlights how quickly language policing can reverse course when a prominent progressive figure is involved.

Newsom responded Monday, defending himself by citing his lifelong struggle with dyslexia and accusing critics of selective outrage.

“You’re going to call me racist for talking about my lifelong struggle with dyslexia?” he wrote in a post responding to Fox News host Sean Hannity.

The governor also referenced past controversies involving former President Donald Trump, arguing that critics ignored what he views as more explicit racial offenses.

The controversy lands at a sensitive political moment. Democrats have frequently positioned themselves as the party most vigilant about racial rhetoric and implicit bias. Newsom himself has previously condemned what he described as racially charged language from political opponents.

Now, critics argue, his own words are under the microscope.

Newsom graduated from Santa Clara University in 1989 and has long pushed back against suggestions that family connections aided his career trajectory. Still, opponents say the SAT remark underscores a disconnect between elite political figures and the communities they claim to represent.

Whether the episode lingers or fades may depend on how aggressively critics continue to press the issue. But in a media environment where moments are clipped, shared, and dissected in seconds, Newsom’s “I’m like you” comment has already secured its place in the 2026 political highlight reel.

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