We're still about two years until the presidential primaries are off and running, and already some potential candidates are trying way too hard to get the upper hand.
This story started with Sen. Ted Cruz calling Gavin Newsom "historically illiterate" on an episode of his podcast:
Gavin Newsom is historically illiterate.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 16, 2026
We break down his attacks on law enforcement on Verdict: https://t.co/JNIRtlWJ7l pic.twitter.com/2Zg64oLahE
"Historically illiterate," eh?
If you're in the perpetual victimization culture, how do you translate that?
Simple:
Ted Cruz calling a dyslexic person illiterate is a new low, even for him. https://t.co/XC75ybiGKd
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) February 16, 2026
Dude, seriously? That reminded us of when Biden would say something incoherent and his handlers (and many in the media) would shame people for mocking his "lifelong stutter."
Maybe Newsom's worse off than we thought.
Is your dyslexia the reason that you don’t know what the phrase “historically illiterate” means?
— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) February 17, 2026
That could be!
The Community Note that soon accompanied Newsom's post said it all:
All-time community note & victimhood self own https://t.co/6X8zmtambB pic.twitter.com/H0K0MigWvS
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 17, 2026
That's a doozy, for sure!
What an embarrassing way to reveal that you don't know what "historically illiterate" means. https://t.co/GipU0QGeLm
— AG (@AGHamilton29) February 17, 2026
Recommended
This is the greatest thing you've ever posted.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 17, 2026
Gavin Newsom (or his vaunted twitter staff) not knowing that “historically illiterate” has nothing to do with reading ability - and attempting to leverage it for victim RTs - is incredibly on-brand. https://t.co/Qd6WXY1ttj
— Matt Whitlock (@MattWhitlock) February 17, 2026
If Team Gavin keeps trying too hard like that the might not even make it to having to drop out of the presidential race before the Iowa primary in a couple of years.
He called you “historically illiterate,” which means you don’t know history. He didn’t call you literally “illiterate,” which would mean you can’t read, which might also be true. But you are clearly also semantically illiterate, as you don’t understand the meaning of words. https://t.co/wEbkddWjuE
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) February 16, 2026
We'll give the final word to Senator Cruz:
https://t.co/63z3bou9A0 pic.twitter.com/C1fi99axwq
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 17, 2026
Perfect. And unfortunately we haven't seen the last of those kinds of takes from Newsom.
*****