Anderson Cooper Details His Dyslexia Diagnosis as He Blasts ‘Cruel’ Trump

Martin HolmesFri, March 27, 2026 at 2:21 PM UTC

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CNN’s Anderson Cooper slammed Donald Trump on Thursday (March 26) after the president mocked California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) by poking fun at his dyslexia diagnosis.

At a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Trump referred to dyslexia as a “mental disability” and called Newsom a “very stupid person” who should be disqualified from running for president.

“I don’t want a person with a mental disability to be my president. You don’t want to have a person with a mental disability being your president,” Trump said, per Mediaite, referring to Newsom, who revealed earlier this year that he was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child and has trouble reading from a teleprompter.

“Gavin Newsom said he can’t read a speech, he can’t do almost anything,” the president continued. “He’s actually a very stupid person. So, I believe he is out of the running. I think that statement, that interview, he admitted he is a stupid person. I don’t want a stupid person being president.”

Cooper addressed Trump’s comments on Thursday’s edition of Anderson Cooper 360, noting how they hit close to home. “For the record, I’m one of them. I had a mild form of dyslexia as a child,” the news anchor said. “Reading did not come easy for me, and I still occasionally mix up Bs and Ds.”

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He went on to say that Trump showed “his own ignorance” when he claimed that people living with dyslexia are dumb. “If the president actually read books or anything on the topic, he would know that,” Cooper stated.

The veteran news reporter then listed several high-achieving people who have been diagnosed with dyslexia, including Trump’s former chief economic adviser, Gary Cohen. Cooper noted how the White House press release at the time even highlighted Cohen’s dyslexia as part of his “inspiring personal story.”

“Apparently, President Trump didn’t read that either,” Cooper said before turning the tables on Trump.

Cooper stated, “Even those who don’t have dyslexia can still sometimes struggle with reading teleprompters and getting their words out,” before airing a montage of Trump tripping over his words and mispronouncing the likes of “origins,” “Yosemite,” and “Azerbaijan.”

“There’s many ways the president could have chosen to go after a political opponent,” Cooper concluded. “Doing it by stigmatizing millions of kids with learning disabilities… that seems to be just about the cruelest.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”