GOP Senator Slams Trump’s Gross Dyslexia Diss: 1 Of The ‘Smartest Guys I Know’ Has It

On Mar 20, 2026

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is taking President Donald Trump’s latest foray into blatant ableism pretty personally.

The Republican lawmaker was asked by the Independent Wednesday about her thoughts regarding Trump’s latest attack on California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

Sen. Lisa Murkowski and President Donald Trump.

On Monday, the president told reporters in the Oval Office that Newsom, who Trump has dubbed “Newscum,” is unfit to be president because he has dyslexia, a type of learning disability that makes it difficult to read.

“With a low-IQ person, you know, because Gavin ‘Newscum’ has admitted that he is a — that he has learning disabilities,” Trump, a man who looked at a solar eclipse with his bare eyeballs, said. “Honestly, I’m all for people with learning disabilities, but not for my president. I don’t want — I think the president should not have learning disabilities.”

pic.twitter.com/TadARABxPX

— Acyn (@Acyn) March 11, 2026

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I don’t want the president of the United States to have a cognitive deficiency. pic.twitter.com/TadARABxPX— Acyn (@Acyn) March 11, 2026nnn","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/amplify_video_thumb/2031844064853966851/img/rcPwYF8TqV4Y32w4.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Acyn on Twitter / 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Trump: Newsom had admitted he has mental problems, that he’s not a smart person, that 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. pic.twitter.com/TadARABxPX

— Acyn (@Acyn) March 11, 2026

While responding to the Independent on Wednesday, Murkowski began with one simple question.

“Should my son not run for president?” Murkowski asked, who confirmed to the outlet that her son has the condition.

“He’s one of the smartest guys I know,” she said of her son. “I guess again, sometimes you’ve got to look at it in the context in which he said it, but I do not believe that those with a level of disability should automatically be excluded from being president.”

Murkowski sits next to Trump during a meeting with bipartisan members of Congress on infrastructure in the Cabinet Room of the White House in 2018 in Washington, D.C.

Michelle Qazi, the president of the Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA), told HuffPost Wednesday that a dyslexia diagnosis does not equate to a “low IQ.”

“That is absolutely inaccurate,” Qazi said. “When students go through all the testing to get a diagnosis of dyslexia, there are IQ tests involved, and their IQ scores are really, really high.”

Newsom has been busy hawking his new memoir recently in which he writes about his experiences living with dyslexia, and is more than happy to yap about how the condition makes him “no better” than everyday Americans (especially those who can vote!) during speaking engagements. This, paired with Newsom’s admission that he’s considering running for president in 2028, is likely why his condition is very much on Trump’s radar.

Gavin Newsom looking like he’ll do anything for your vote in 2010.

As for Murkowski, the moderate Republican tends to be a bit more critical of Trump than her more sycophantic colleagues, and was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump after Jan. 6. She also opposed the appointment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

So, Trump is no fan of hers, but neither are some Democrats. In 2022, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) blasted Murkowski after the senator expressed dismay over Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court despite Murkowski voting in 2020 to confirm Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was outspoken about her pro-life beliefs. Murkowski also has no problem giving reporters death stares when they ask her to comment on voting for extremely unpopular bills.