Gavin Newsom, who delights in using Trump-like trolling tactics, is widely viewed as the Democratic Party’s presidential front-runner.

He is riding a wave of interviews and podcasts, boosted by a new memoir, and trying to make the case that as California governor he is not as liberal as his record might suggest. Unlike most of his party, for instance, he opposes trans women athletes competing against men.

NEWSOM SAYS TRUMP IS ONE OF THE 'MOST DESTRUCTIVE' PRESIDENT OF HIS LIFETIME: 'THIS GUY IS RECKLESS'

But there is a central fact about Newsom that, while it may be known to insiders and to some in his home state, is undoubtedly news to most Americans.

Gavin Newsom is dyslexic. Seriously dyslexic. And as a new profile in the New Yorker makes clear, that affects his life every single day. 

Newsom showed author Nathan Heller a "folder of his printed material, his reading from the previous evening. Almost every word of text was underlined. He flipped through a galley proof of his memoir, in which the underlining covered whole pages–the only way, he said, that he could read any book, even his own. He produced another folder filled with lined paper and covered with his handwriting; he copies all the text he underlines onto writing pads."

And then it goes on yellow index cards.

The bottom line is that the governor struggles to do what every working politician needs to routinely do, and that’s deliver speeches. He has to copy each word down and memorize it. On a TelePrompTer, "he sees the lines of text … as a single image, like a Chinese character, which he uses to recall the next line."

California congresswoman Lateefah Simon says a four-hour podcast is easier for Newsom than a 10-minute speech.

NEWSOM’S DAVOS DETOUR: 5 CRINGE MOMENTS THAT OVERSHADOWED HIGH-PROFILE SUMMIT

This disability affected his self-image growing up, when Newsom would sometimes fake being sick to be picked up early from school. "He always called himself stupid," his sister said.

During the 90-minute commute to Sacramento with his wife, a documentary filmmaker, and their four children, he makes notations that are later transferred to cards and pads.

So if Newsom were to make it to the Oval Office, he would clearly rely heavily on verbal briefings rather than poring over reports and documents.

The governor describes himself as having a hardscrabble upbringing, getting by on giant bowls of mac and cheese. One former associate told the New Yorker this was Newsom’s "‘I was born a poor Black child’ story."

In reality, he vacationed with John Paul Getty’s family, thanks to his father’s connections. Newsom’s parents separated when he was three,

There’s more to the narrative. Newsom’s sister Hilary chided him for continuing to work while their mother was engaging in assisted suicide. 

NEWSOM LASHES OUT AT TRUMP OVER 'CARNIVAL OF CHAOS' AMID MINNESOTA ICE SHOOTING FUROR

Other parts of the life story recounted here are better known. The failure of Newsom’s marriage to Kimberly Guilfoyle, then a left-leaning lawyer in the DA’s office (who later joined Fox News, had an ill-fated engagement to Donald Trump Jr. and is now ambassador to Greece). How he had an affair with the city’s appointments secretary, who was married to one of his top aides, and admitted: "Everything that you’ve heard and read is true." 

And most damaging, during the pandemic, when the governor was urging Californians to avoid large gatherings, he dined, maskless, with medical executives and a lobbyist at the super-chic French Laundry. That led to a recall effort, which Newsom trounced by 24 points.

The governor, who has repeatedly failed to resolve the state’s homelessness problem, is an unusual dude. He worked against a union petition to raise taxes on billionaires, saying it would drive them out of the state. He told President Donald Trump that keeping the border sealed was crucial, and he wanted to drop California’s sanctuary-state status.

On Election Day last year, Newsom met with aides after spending three hours reading about electric vehicle policy.

"It’s a hell of a way to start every single day," he said. "How many books I could have read! Literature! Philosophy!"

Is America ready for Gavin Newsom, who has a massive social media following, as a potential president? Are voters ready for him as a person, dyslexia and all, and as a politician, when California is so easily caricatured as a liberal La-La-Land? 

I don’t know, and I don’t think he does, either. But we may soon find out.

President Donald Trump on Monday blamed Democrats for the partial government shutdown, as Republicans and Democrats have yet to reach a deal on Department of Homeland Security funding, while he also touted what he deemed as wins for his administration on issues such as the economy and crime.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump boasted of "great financial numbers" such as low inflation and falling fuel prices.

"Great financial numbers, you saw low inflation, very low inflation. Prices are down. Way down. Gasoline is less than $2 a gallon in many places, which nobody expected to see," Trump said, although the national average for gas is closer to $3 and state averages in areas with the cheapest fuel still remain above $2.

DHS SHUTDOWN LOOMS AS JOHNSON NAVIGATES GOP DIVIDE OVER STOPGAP SOLUTIONS

"But I did this going by the initial expression of drill, baby, drill. Prices are coming down very strongly. And as goes gasoline and oil and gas, so goes the rest of other products that are high … We inherited a mess, and we've brought our country back," he continued.

When asked about the partial shutdown over DHS funding, Trump said it is a "Democrat shutdown" that has "nothing to do with Republicans," accusing Democrats of being upset with falling crime numbers, which he took credit for, even as data shows murder and other violent crime had been on the decline in major cities before his return to the White House.

"This is a Democrat shutdown. This has nothing to do with Republicans, and Democrats shut down. They're upset that the crime numbers are so good. They're very unhappy that there's a movement," he said.

Democrats have demanded stricter oversight and reforms of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the fatal shootings last month of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis.

"They don't want voter ID because they want to cheat in elections," the president added, referring to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act passed by the House that would impose stricter requirements in federal elections for voters to prove citizenship through photo ID and other documentation such as a passport or birth certificate, a measure Democrats have resisted including in long-term funding bills.

"They don't want Mail-In ballots. They want to end mail-in ballots, and one other thing that [Republicans] are insisting on is proof of citizenship. And the Democrats don't want to give proof of citizenship. They don't want to give voter ID," he added.

PARTIAL SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON AS DHS FUNDING TALKS STALL

Still, Trump said he is willing to meet with Democrats to discuss a plan to end the shutdown, but stressed that "we have to protect our law enforcement" and that immigration officers have "done a great job" in removing "criminals that were brought in."

The president also said he would still give his State of the Union speech scheduled for next week if there is still a shutdown.