Overview
- At a White House Cabinet meeting Thursday, President Trump said Gavin Newsom “suffers from mental disability” and claimed that disqualifies the California governor from a 2028 presidential run.
- Trump called Newsom “a very stupid person” and repeated his unverified claim that he took multiple cognitive tests and “aced” them.
- Following Thursday’s remarks, CNN’s Anderson Cooper disclosed his own dyslexia and argued the attack stigmatizes millions, citing successful figures like former Trump adviser Gary Cohn.
- Medical authorities including the Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, and the International Dyslexia Association define dyslexia as a common neurodevelopmental reading difference unrelated to intelligence.
- Newsom urged people with dyslexia not to be deterred by insults, while left-leaning outlets condemned the rhetoric as cruel and the Washington Times recounted the comments with clinical definitions for context.