Anderson Cooper rebukes Trump’s dyslexia remarks, airs supercut of POTUS' speech gaffes

WASHINGTON, DC: CNN's Anderson Cooper sharply responded to President Donald Trump attacking California Governor Gavin Newsom over his dyslexia.

During a CNN segment on Thursday, Cooper spoke out against what Trump said and illustrated that the presdient himself has made many gaffes while delivering speeches in public.

Anderson Cooper talks about his personal experience with dyslexia

Cooper stated that he had also been diagnosed with dyslexia when he was younger and pointed out that attacking someone with a disability like Newsom's is not right.

"For the record, I'm one of them," Cooper told CNN viewers. "I had a mild form of dyslexia as a child. Reading did not come easy for me, and I still occasionally mix up Bs and Ds."

He highlighted that Trump's own first-term chief economic adviser Gary Cohn has severe dyslexia and that Trump's own transition team highlighted it approvingly in the news release announcing his appointment, calling it "an inspiring personal story."

"Apparently, President Trump didn't read that either," Cooper said dryly.

Anderson Cooper says Trump is 'stigmatizing millions of kids with learning disabilities'

The CNN host also noted that Woodrow Wilson, who couldn't read at age 10, won the Nobel Peace Prize, adding that the dyslexia dig "has got to kind of hurt" for a president who had to "bogart one from an actual Nobel laureate."

Cooper then rolled a supercut of Trump himself stumbling over teleprompter words, mispronouncing "origins," "Yosemite," "Azerbaijan," and "acetaminophen" before landing his verdict — "There are many ways the president could have chosen to go after a political opponent. Doing it by stigmatizing millions of kids with learning disabilities — that seems to be just about the cruelest."

Trump attacks against Newsom 

Trump recently used Newsom's publicly disclosed dyslexia as a weapon, declaring flatly, "I don't want a stupid person being president."

In another instance, the presdient called the governor a "low-IQ person,” and said, “Honestly, I’m all for people with learning disabilities but not for my president. ... And I know it’s highly controversial to say such a horrible thing.”

Tensions between Trump and Newsom have been ongoing for some time, including many policy clashes and leadership disagreements, with them having public disputes about these issues.

In the past, Newsom has publicly discussed his dyslexia, including his difficulties with reading when he was a young child. Newsom has been open about his experience with dyslexia, which he was diagnosed with at the age of five.

He wrote about growing up and struggling to read and write in his memoir, 'Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery', and he drew on his own experiences for his 2021 children’s book, 'Ben and Emma’s Big Hit'. 

Newsom responded to Trump’s comments on X, in which he addressed children with dyslexia.

“To every kid with a learning disability: don’t let anyone — not even the President of the United States — bully you,” he said. “Dyslexia isn’t a weakness. It’s your strength.”