California Gov. Gavin Newsom is under heavy fire after a viral photo seemingly contradicted his recent claims about growing up in poverty.
While on a nationwide tour to promote his forthcoming memoir “Young Man in a Hurry,” Newsom has frequently mentioned his family’s financial issues. The problem, as some social media users have argued, is that Newsom previously referenced his father working as an attorney for billionaire Gordon Getty and the Newsom family enjoying international trips alongside Getty.
In fact, Newsom posed with two of Getty’s sons in a December 1991 feature for the San Francisco Chronicle. The photo in question was captioned “Children of the Rich,” and the story was titled “A New Generation Makes Its Mark: Society kids take up endeavors outside the expected realm.”
At the time, Newsom was a 24-year-old co-owner of a wine shop. The story quoted him as saying, “We can save them some money and also give them access to better-quality wines.” Shortly after Newsom won the 2018 California gubernatorial election, the Chronicle shared the image and referenced the original story. The Chronicle found five staff photos of Newsom from 1991 and 1992, including an October 1992 image of him posing at the PlumpJack wine store.
Gavin “I Grew Up Poor” Newsom was in the SF Chronicle 1991 “Children of the Rich” pic.twitter.com/zhFE8vsN3Y
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 23, 2026
Although the original image itself has been featured on social media before, it picked up steam again Sunday night. An X post from the popular @EndWokeness account had over 450,000 views in less than 12 hours.
It’s one thing for Newsom to discuss his childhood issues with dyslexia, as he did during a speaking appearance in Georgia this past weekend. Plenty of people, regardless of their political affiliation or background, can relate to having a learning disability or feeling like they don’t fit in with others. However, trying to relate to potential voters about financial issues when he was the son of a judge and co-owned a business at 24 years old might not be the best tactic.
“Life is hard when you’re super wealthy… or something,” The Heritage Foundation’s Tim Young quipped on X.
Life is hard when you’re super wealthy… or something. https://t.co/RQFWpArERh
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) February 23, 2026
Newsom’s comments regarding his childhood finances come amid another, far more serious controversy. Superstar rapper Nicki Minaj was among those who accused Newsom of making racially insensitive remarks while addressing Black Americans this past weekend. Specifically, Newsom told a crowd, “I’m just like you,” when discussing his struggles with reading and his low test scores.
However, because Newsom made those comments in Georgia to a sizable Black crowd, many interpreted his words as implying that Black Americans cannot read. Minaj, who is from Trinidad, also took issue with Newsom’s cadence and speech speed, which she felt was demeaning to those in attendance.
“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!!!!” Minaj wrote on X. “As if they’re children!!!! That means he REALLY BELIEVES they’re slow.”
Newsom had not responded to Minaj, nor had he addressed the racism allegations as of Monday morning.
