President Donald Trump has said California Governor Gavin Newsom should not be president because he has dyslexia, stating that while he is "all for people with learning disabilities," he does not want one as his president. This is at least the third time Trump has made comments about Newsom and his dyslexia in less than a week.
The remarks have prompted strong pushback from disability advocates and educators. The National Center for Learning Disabilities called Trump's comments "both factually and morally incorrect." According to the Yale Centre for Dyslexia and Creativity, dyslexia has "no connection to [people's] overall intelligence," and the condition is common, affecting around 20 percent of the population.
Yet Trump's assertion that dyslexia disqualifies someone from high office runs directly counter to American history. Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, led the country through World War I and won the Nobel Peace Prize. He had all the signs of dyslexia and struggled with literacy in childhood. John F. Kennedy had dyslexia and chronic back pain, yet he attended Harvard, received military honours from his service in the Navy, and became the 35th President of the United States.
George Washington struggled with spelling and grammar throughout his life and is believed to have had dyslexia. Despite this, he became the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and was unanimously elected as the first President.
Newsom has been open about his dyslexia, which he was diagnosed with at age 5, and wrote about his experiences growing up in his memoir, Young Man in a Hurry. Responding to Trump's comments, Newsom wrote: "To every kid with a learning disability: don't let anyone — not even the President of the United States — bully you."
For policymakers and citizens around the world, including in Australia, the debate raises fundamental questions about merit, capability, and whether leaders should be judged by their overall capacity to govern rather than their neurological differences.