California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom attempted to relate to an audience at an Atlanta book tour stop by pointing to his own unimpressive standardized test scores and claiming that he “cannot read a speech.”
“I’m not trying to impress you,” Newsom told Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens at the event on Sunday. “I’m just trying to impress upon you: I’m like you. I’m no better than you. You know, I’m a 960 SAT guy.”
“And, I’m not trying to offend anyone, trying to act all there if you got 940,” he added. Data posted by the National Center for Education Statistics shows that in the 1980s, when Newsom would have taken the test, the average score was around 900. Modern tests, that utilize a recentered scale, have an average score of 1010, according to research by The College Board.
“Literally a 960 guy, I can’t – you’ve never seen me read a speech, because I cannot read a speech: maybe the wrong business to be in,” he continued.
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Newsom then went into his personal background living with dyslexia, a learning disability that impacts how an individual processes written words when trying to read.
“My dyslexia, I haven’t overcome dyslexia, I’m living with it,” Newsom said. “I was a guy in the back of the classroom, my head down, just praying the teacher didn’t call on me.”
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Newsom talked further about “reports from the doctors,” detailing his challenges.
“I never realized – I was going after school three days a week – I didn’t know what for,” he said, noting his “mom was furious” as she learned he “has quote, unquote dyslexia.”
“Because she didn’t want that to limit me. She didn’t want that to be an excuse.”
