Gavin Newsom low SAT remark to a black audience draws backlash

[ecstatic]

88. Yikes but skimming the comments

It looks like maybe he wasn't directing it to a black audience and maybe his "you" was referring to the general population.

First, let's be clear, SAT scores aren't really a reliable indicator of intelligence due to the massive test prep industry surrounding it. On other standardized tests where nobody had a chance to prepare ahead of time, I always scored in the top 1 to 3%.

For the SAT, I didn't do any fancy prep and I scored around 1300. At that time, that score fell into the top 8% - 11% in the country, which means the average score was a lot lower. I assume the average score was probably around 1,000?

I think his comments were a gaffe, but unless he was speaking to mensa members, his comments would apply to any general audience, especially now that studies suggest that 54% of adults read below the 6th-grade level. If he falls into that category as well then that would make him different from other politicians who attended ivy league schools.

Don't get me wrong, I really like Newsom. Despite the gaffe, I think he is a gifted speaker and very in tune with what's going on although he's probably mentally and physically exhausted as well. The GOP has been working on discrediting him for years and they've succeeded to a certain extent.