Gavin Newsom may face empty seats at South Carolina stop of book tour

Gov. Gavin Newsom was still struggling to fill an auditorium hours before a South Carolina stop on his much-hyped publicity tour for his memoir “Young Man in a Hurry,” according to an event listing.

Less than two hours before the book event, titled An Evening with Governor Gavin Newsom in Rock Hill, S.C., tickets were still on sale for $49.33 a pop in chunks of 10 each — the maximum you can purchase online.

Newsom is set to speak at 6:30 p.m. Monday at McGirt Auditorium, a 750-seat venue in Rock Hill, which is roughly 30 min outside Charlotte, N.C.

Nathan Click, a Newsom spokesperson, said the unsold tickets were the result of “added capacity.”

“Actually, the original ticket allotment quickly sold out and we added capacity. Even those additional tickets are almost gone as you can see by Eventbrite’s ‘only a few left’ tag,” Click said in an email.

Eventbrite’s tags that read “only a few left” and “selling fast” are often regarded as a marketing tactic to boost sales.

A Facebook post promoting the event showed mixed reactions to Newsom’s visit to small-town South Carolina — a key presidential primary state.

“Getting my ‘Gavin Out’ protest signs ready!!” wrote Laura Bursey.

“Yes! Make South Carolina California… oh wait.,” Mark Lemberger chimed in.

The Feb. 12 Facebook posted listed the moderator as former Democratic Party Chair Jamie Harrison, though the Eventbrite page listed the moderator as “to be announced.”

The California governor headlined book events in Nashville, Tenn. and Atlanta, Ga. over the weekend.

In Atlanta, Newsom faced outrage over comments about his SAT scores that were seen as racist.

Speaking to Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Newsom attempted to relate to the audience by citing his 960 SAT score and struggles with reading.

“I’m not trying to impress you, I’m just trying to impress upon you, ‘I’m like you. I’m not better than you.’ I’m a 960 SAT guy,” Newsom told Dickens during a Sunday night event promoting his memoir.

“And I’m not trying to offend anyone,” the expected 2028 Democratic contender went on. “You’ve never seen me read a speech because I cannot read a speech.”

Newsom later hit back at critics in an expletive-laced rant on X.

“You didn’t give a s–t about the President of the United States of America posting an ape video of President [Barack] Obama or calling African nations s–tholes — but you’re going to call me racist for talking about my lifelong struggle with dyslexia?” Newsom fumed in response to a post from Fox News Host Sean Hannity.

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