LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� If politicians write memoirs to generate online buzz and headlines, California Gov. is getting plenty of both 鈥� favorable and not.
Just a few days into a national book tour, the two-term Democrat who is widely expected to in 2028 is taking heat from conservatives who say some recent remarks were racist and from LGBTQ+ advocates bristling at his calls for the Democratic Party to be more 鈥渃ulturally normal.鈥�
草莓传媒om’s kickoff swing for 鈥淵oung Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery鈥� comes as he鈥檚 sought to position himself as the leading Democratic adversary to President and a capable player on the .
The book, released Tuesday, focuses heavily on carefully crafted biography over policy and is designed to introduce 草莓传媒om to a national audience who may be unfamiliar with the former San Francisco mayor and lieutenant governor. It鈥檚 been argued that all publicity is good publicity, but the six-city tour is also testing those limits as 草莓传媒om seeks to shake off the image, fair or not, of a liberal elitist out of touch with Main Street.
Remarks on his own academics draw pushback
草莓传媒om’s middling academic record and lifelong struggles with dyslexia are a key piece of his narrative as he seeks relatability with audiences. But conservatives have seized on comments about those struggles made Sunday during a conversation with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who is Black.
鈥淚’m just trying to impress upon you: I’m like you, I’m no better than you, I’m a 960 SAT guy,鈥� he said, referring to a lower-than-average score on the commonly used college entrance exam.
Republicans said 草莓传媒om was disparaging Black people by suggesting they weren’t smart, an assertion 草莓传媒om and his office forcefully denied.
鈥淏lack Americans aren鈥檛 your low bar,鈥� South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott, who is Black, wrote on social media. 鈥淲e鈥檝e built empires, created movements, outworked, outhustled and outsmarted people like you. Stop using your mediocre academics as a way to patronize communities. Its ridiculous!鈥�
草莓传媒om’s office pushed back hard against another critic, Fox 草莓传媒 Channel host , accusing him of being indifferent to racist remarks made by Trump and saying his comments amounted to fake outrage. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to call me racist for talking about my lifelong struggle with dyslexia?鈥� 草莓传媒om wrote on X.
His office said the crowd, which can be heard laughing, was racially diverse. Dickens said critics were taking the comments out of context.
鈥淭hat wasn鈥檛 an attack on anyone. It was a moment of vulnerability about his own journey,鈥� the mayor wrote on Instagram. 鈥淲e鈥檝e gotten so used to loud, chest-pounding politics that when someone speaks about shortcomings, people try to twist it into something else.鈥�
Other prominent Black Democrats also chimed in to defend 草莓传媒om.
The back-and-forth has put 草莓传媒om’s book tour in the national headlines for several days, a premium place to be in a fragmented world of political news.
鈥淎t this early stage of the pre-presidential race, just about any publicity is good publicity,” said Republican strategist Mike Murphy. To “have the spotlight is invaluable and 草莓传媒om has a real knack for attracting all the right enemies if you are running for the Democratic presidential nomination.鈥�
草莓传媒om鈥檚 press office later taunted in a social media post that he was dominating news coverage on the same day as speech. 鈥淔OX NEWS IS WALL-TO-WALL COVERAGE OF ME,鈥� the post said.
Critics of his remarks in Atlanta were largely on the right but included some exceptions like , a co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign, and , who tried to launch a third-party presidential bid in 2024. Both are Black.
鈥楥ulturally normal鈥� comments spark criticism at home
Meanwhile, he’s facing blowback from California Democrats over other remarks made this week.
He told CNN in an interview aired Monday that the Democratic Party needs to be 鈥渕ore culturally normal鈥� and 鈥渓ess prone to spending a disproportionate amount of time on pronouns, identity鈥� while emphasizing energy costs, child care and other kitchen table issues.
鈥淚t鈥檚 deeply concerning for anyone, especially our elected leaders, to be defining who or what is 鈥榗ulturally normal.鈥� By definition, it implies someone else is 鈥榥ot normal,'” the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus said in a statement.
鈥淲e cannot adopt the language of MAGA extremists who in the last year are actively seeking to roll back the rights of women, LGBTQ+ individuals and marginalized communities,鈥� the caucus wrote.
Lindsey Cobia, a senior 草莓传媒om campaign adviser, noted his long history supporting the LGBTQ+ community including when, as mayor, he issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples before it was legal.
鈥淣obody鈥檚 been a bigger supporter of LGBTQ+ rights than Governor 草莓传媒om,鈥� she said in a statement.
It’s not the first time 草莓传媒om has angered allies in the LGBTQ+ community. On the first episode of his political podcast last year, he said it was 鈥� 鈥� for transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports. Those comments were widely viewed as an attempt by 草莓传媒om to move to the political center.
草莓传媒om’s last two stops on the book tour are in San Francisco and Los Angeles. With a year left in his governorship, some critics say he should .
鈥淭o go on a book tour when our state is in desperate need of revamping and revisions 鈥� its almost comical,鈥� said Hollywood crisis manager Holly Baird, who is not a fan of the governor.
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