Gavin Newsom’s ‘Bestseller’ Exposed: His PAC Bought Two-Thirds of All Copies Sold

Gavin Newsom wanted America to believe his memoir was a hit. He toured. He promoted. He hit the bestseller lists. The whole thing looked like a legitimate cultural moment for a man openly running for the White House.

There was just one problem. The numbers were fake.

Federal disclosure records have now revealed that Newsom’s own super PAC, the Campaign for Democracy Committee, spent $1.5 million to purchase roughly 67,000 copies of his memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry.” Total print sales for the book since its February 24 release? About 97,400 copies. Do the math. That means nearly two out of every three copies sold went to his own PAC, not to actual readers.

Libs of TikTok put the numbers out there for everyone to see.

BREAKING: Gavin Newsom’s PAC used $1.5 million to buy 67,000 copies of HIS OWN BOOK. Total book sales were around 97,400. His PAC’s purchase accounts for about two-thirds of all sold copies pic.twitter.com/mnBaHl7ZFf

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 17, 2026

The details are even more embarrassing than the headline. The PAC ran a promotion last November and January asking donors to contribute “ANY AMOUNT” and they would receive a copy of the book when it dropped. Federal filings show the PAC paid $1,561,875 to Porchlight Book Company to fulfill those orders, making it the committee’s largest expenditure in the first quarter of 2026.

Strip out the PAC purchases and Newsom’s memoir sold approximately 30,000 copies over six weeks. For context, that is not bestseller territory. That is a mediocre launch for a sitting governor running for president.

The New York Times reported on the discrepancy:

Approximately 97,400 print copies of Mr. Newsom’s memoir have been sold since its publication on February 24, according to the book industry sales tracker Circana BookScan. Federal disclosures reveal that roughly 67,000 of those copies were purchased by his super PAC, the Campaign for Democracy Committee, which paid $1,561,875 to Porchlight Book Company.

The New York Times marked the book with a dagger symbol on its bestseller list, which the paper uses “when it has reason to believe that sales of a book include a mix of organic and bulk sales.”

That dagger symbol is essentially the Times admitting they know the bestseller status was manufactured. And they put it on the list anyway.

The reaction online was exactly what you would expect.

And now you know how crappy books become NYTimes bestsellers… https://t.co/3mW0Ws4yzF

— John Λ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) April 17, 2026

Newsom’s team has tried to spin the numbers, claiming the promotion “generated net revenue” and “deepened supporter relationships.” That is one way to describe using donor money to buy your own book so you can call yourself a bestselling author.

The Megyn Kelly Show laid out the implications:

In March, Newsom’s team had claimed more than 91,000 copies had been purchased through “organic, in-person and online, non-bulk purchases.” That claim now appears to have been misleading at best. The PAC’s bulk purchase of 67,000 copies means the overwhelming majority of early sales were anything but organic.

After the initial PAC-driven surge, subsequent weekly sales have been modest, with approximately 6,400 organic copies sold in the six weeks following the book’s launch.

So Newsom’s team claimed 91,000 “organic” sales. The real number of organic copies sold? Around 6,400 in six weeks. That is not a rounding error. That is a fabrication.

This is the man who wants to be President. A man who cannot even sell a book without rigging the system. If he will spend $1.5 million in donor money to fake a bestseller list, what would he do with actual power?

California voters already know the answer to that question.

Do you agree?