Morning Note

Gavin Newsom made the New York Times bestseller list last month. His memoir, which he wrote because he wants to become president, had sold 91,000 copies as of March 4th, four days before he appeared on the list. 

If you find that impressive, think again. A spokesperson admitted last week that the California governor’s own Political Action Committee massively inflated the sales by spending over $1.5 million on 67,000 copies of the book.

Newsom’s braggadocious March 4th press release conveniently did not mention the source of the memoir’s success, instead generically claiming the sales came “through organic, in-person and online, non-bulk purchases in the United States.” 

History suggests Newsom’s bulk buying would have kept him off the Times list if he were a Republican. Publishers excluded Ted Cruz in 2015 when his presidential campaign spent $122,000 – about 10% of what Newsom’s PAC did – on his book. We know Cruz hates this newsletter, but he clearly fell victim to a liberal double standard. 

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