The cruel comment from his mom that haunted Gavin Newsom

Gavin Newsom has revealed that his mother “cruelly” told him it was “ok to be average” one night as he struggled with severe dyslexia. Newsom writes in his upcoming memoir that his mom, Tessa Menzies, made the comment in frustration because a young Newsom couldn’t complete his homework.

The 58-year-old, who is considered a potential presidential candidate, explains in *Young Man in a Hurry* that her words were meant as a “consolation,” but they have haunted him ever since. “I don’t recall crueler words ever said about me,” he writes, according to Politico.

The California governor shares that he could barely read or write as a child. He even cheated on schoolwork using CliffsNotes and was expelled from elementary school. Newsom admitted he still struggles with prepared speeches and describes his polished image as a “coping mechanism” rather than pure confidence.

In a deeply personal revelation, Newsom also discloses that he helped administer a fatal dose of morphine to his mother when assisted suicide was illegal—a memory that continues to haunt him. Following his mother’s years-long battle with breast cancer, he helped Tessa end her life in 2002. She was in her 50s when she made the decision.

Assisted suicide only became legal in California in 2016, when then-Governor Jerry Brown signed the End of Life Option Act. Newsom writes that the look on her face “will never leave my mind.” He recalls, “There was no peace that blanketed her.”

He also shares a poignant moment before her death: “She left me a message because I was too busy: ‘Hope you’re well. Next Wednesday will be the last day for me. Hope you can make it.’ I saved the cassette with the message on it, that’s how sick I am,” he said.

Newsom adds that the night before he gave her the drugs, his mother pushed him to get out of politics. At the time, he was serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. A year after his mother’s death, Newsom became the city’s youngest elected mayor in a century.

The memoir, titled *Young Man in a Hurry*, is scheduled for release on February 24. According to Politico, it was more than five years in the making and offers an introspective look into the personal life of the likely presidential contender.
https://nypost.com/2026/02/01/us-news/gavin-newsom-haunted-by-cruel-comment-from-his-mom/