Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump recently engaged in a fresh war of words. It started after the President mocked the California governor during a rally in Kentucky.
Previously, during an interview, Gavin Newsom had opened up about the struggles of living with dyslexia and earned people’s support. However, taking aim at that particular interview, during an event in Kentucky on Wednesday, Trump tried to mock Newsom.
Since the governor is widely seen as a possible Democratic candidate for the 2028 United States presidential election, Trump brought up the earlier interview about his dyslexia. He used the confession to criticize the California governor and claimed that the Democrat was “not smart.”
“He [Newsom] admitted he has mental problems, that he’s not a smart person, that he has a mental lack of ability, he’s unable to read a speech. He can’t read … I don’t want the president of the United States to have a cognitive deficiency.” Trump stated.
However, Donald Trump’s comment quickly sparked backlash online and allowed Gavin Newsom to respond. Newsom took to his X account and fired back with a short and sharp response, claiming “too late”.
“I don’t want the president of the United States to have a cognitive deficiency.”
Too late. https://t.co/dY0iGcIreA
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) March 11, 2026
Newsom’s response appeared to mock Trump by suggesting that the U.S. already has a President with cognitive issues.
The Governor’s press office also posted another message that took a clear dig at the President’s age and behavior. “Grandpa’s talking about himself again. We wish him well — it’s never too late to seek mental treatment,” they wrote.
However, the social media war didn’t end there. Trump continued his criticism of the governor on Truth Social. He claimed that Newsom had effectively removed himself from consideration as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, because he is a “cognitive mess”.
I spoke about my dyslexia.
I know that’s hard for a brain-dead moron who bombs children and protects pedophiles to understand. pic.twitter.com/qFjsQeSJ1z
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 12, 2026
This time, Gavin Newsom responded in a far more controversial way by bringing up difficult topics linked to the Trump administration. Instead of letting Trump attack his personal struggles with dyslexia, Newsom diverted the topic towards reports about a deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran, which was presumably carried out by the U.S.
“Four service members died today and Donald Trump spent more time talking about his ballroom than he did about the loss of those lives. We have to reconcile why our bombs, or Israeli bombs, were used to kill children, young girls at a school, and what the imminent threat was. It hasn’t been described.” Newsom commented.
