Ticket 2 Ride

Donald Trump is not a very deep or complex person. He is very open about himself and his views. He’s boastful about his intelligence and IQ, and dismissive about those he does not like. Thanks to the internet and the press, there is a lengthy record of his views and self-congratulatory remarks.

“Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest – and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure, it’s not your fault” – Trump, May 8, 2013

Say what you will about Trump, but he’s certainly a legend in his own mind. He boasts of his IQ, but has never provided any proof. He declares his academic excellence, but again, no proof. In fact, he’s threatened to sue any schools from sharing his records.

“I’m talking about a man who declares himself brilliant, but directed me to threaten his high school, his colleges and the College Board to never release his grades or SAT scores,” former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen told the House Oversight Committee.

“I’m much smarter than them. I think I have a much higher IQ. I think I went to a better college — better everything.” – Trump, November 23, 2015

“I don’t think you have to put him on the couch to see that someone who has such a consistent need to build himself up and belittle everyone else must have some problems with self-esteem,” said Trump biographer Gwenda Blair, who wrote a book about the Trump family. “It’s a lifelong theme for him.” Politico

Trump ties IQ with the wealth, reputation of the schools attended, social standing and one’s genes. Trump’s own rationale on intelligence veers dangerously close to race superiority and the debunked pseudoscience of eugenics. More on that below.

Who are the recent low IQ targets?

Trump has taken shots at members of his own party, including former Republican nominees for President, calling former Sen. Mitt Romney “one of the dumbest” candidates in the history of the GOP and the late Sen. John McCain a “dummy”. Trump called McCain a loser because he was shot down and spent years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese.

Trump derided Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, his opponent, as “dumb,” “mentally unfit,” “slow” and “stupid,” and of course, an “extremely low-IQ person.” Interesting that he should denigrate Harris in that way, given her academic, legal and political accomplishments. And Harris is a woman and person of color.

Trump also suggested Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), another “low-IQ individual” who should be forced to take an IQ test after the congressman was removed from the president’s address to Congress and later censured by the House. Green is an African-American.

Former Trump supporters Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Alex Jones, and Candace Owens earned the low IQ tag recently for disagreeing with Trump over war with Iran.

“I know why Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones have all been fighting me for years, especially by the fact that they think it is wonderful for Iran, the Number One State Sponsor of Terror, to have a Nuclear Weapon — Because they have one thing in common, Low IQs,” – Trump wrote in a Truth Social post

“Tucker’s a low IQ person that has absolutely no idea what’s going on. Always easy to beat, and highly overrated!!! So are Megyn Kelly, ‘Candace’ (Really Dumb and mentally ill!), and Bankrupt Alex Jones, who is completely ‘fried.’”

“Who’s dumber, Tucker Carlson or Joe Kent?” Kent served as Director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center until he resigned over disagreement with Trump over war with Iran.

“Nineteen billion dollars at a minimum is missing in Minnesota, given to a large degree by Somalians. They’ve taken it,” Trump said. ”Somalians, can you imagine? And they don’t do it — a lot of very low IQ people.” Minnesota has a large Somali population and are blamed by Trump for stealing various taxpayer funds. Minnesota officials counter the unsubstantiated $19B number, saying that the number is closer to $217.7 million, and have filed criminal social services fraud charges across social services programs since September 2022, including $25.65 million in alleged Medicaid fraud. They have been 3,000 investigations and referring 500 cases to law enforcement. Trump has painted all Somalis as criminals. Somalia must be one of the “shit hole” countries Trump talks about.

“I looked at [Texas Representative] Jasmine Crockett, she’s a very low IQ person. “Between her and Ilhan Omar [D-Minn.]… and, you know, I met the head of Somalia. Did you know that? And I suggested that maybe he’d like to take her back. And he said, ‘I don’t want her,’” Trump said. Women of color again.

Past targets of low IQ remarks

Radio host Charlamagne tha God “sleazebag, low IQ”

Joe Biden, “sleepy Joe”, another “low IQ person.”

Rep. Maxine Waters “seriously low IQ person.”

Robert De Niro, a very Low IQ individual, has received to many shots to the head by real boxers in movies.”

Former FBI director James Comey: “He’s either very sick or very dumb.”

Mika Brzezinski “dumb as a rock”, “Crazy”, “low I.Q.”, “bleeding badly from a face-lift”, “had a mental breakdown while talking about me”, “crazy and very dumb”, “very insecure”, “not very bright”, “neurotic” and “wild with hate”.

“Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do.”

TV host and comedian Bill Maher “the dumbest man on television”

Brigitte Macron. He wrote: “She’s a crazy person” and has suggested the respected French First Lady is a man.

“Jon Stewart(?) is an obnoxious lightweight with a lower I.Q.” (May 8, 2013)

“.@GovernorPerry failed on the border. He should be forced to take an IQ test before being allowed to enter the GOP debate.” – Trump, July 16, 2015 (Perry went on to serve as Trump’s Energy Secretary)

TheRickWilson shouldn’t be allowed on television unless given an I.Q. test. Dumb as a rock! @CNN” – Trump, December 9, 2015)

Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

And the list goes on and on.

Race and IQ – what’s it all about, Donny?

A very dangerous topic. Eugenics is the scientifically inaccurate theory that humans can be improved through selective breeding of populations. Eugenicists believed in a prejudiced and incorrect understanding of Mendelian genetics that claimed abstract human qualities (e.g., intelligence and social behaviors) were inherited in a simple fashion. – National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

A HuffPost article by Brittany Wong (May 5, 2025) took a dive into the use of “low IQ” profiling by Trump. “The history of IQ is racist and eugenicist, and would take a lot to unpack,” said Carrie Gillon, linguist and podcast host about linguistic discrimination. “But ultimately: Talking about IQ, particularly in this way, is racist,” she said.

“Supporters of eugenic ideologies in the 1900s used IQ tests to identify ‘idiots,’ ‘imbeciles,’ and the ‘feebleminded,’” Daphne Oluwaseun Martschenko, an assistant professor at the Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics explained. “These were people, eugenicists argued, who threatened to dilute the White Anglo-Saxon genetic stock of America.”

Historians point to Germany as weaponizing eugenics, but the theories of racial inferiority were promoted as far back as the 1800’s by members of European and American societies, including Charles Lindbergh. According to the Holocaust Encyclopedia, “Before 1914, the German racial hygiene movement did not differ greatly from its British and American counterparts.” In the U.S., the theories were espoused by a growing number of believers of racial inferiority, tainted by deficiencies they inherited. American Charles Davenport advocated for the development of eugenics as “a science devoted to the improvement of the human race through better breeding.”

Nazi ideology

It’s been noted that Adolph Hitler was fascinated by the race theories in Britain and America at the time. Once in power, the Nazis supercharged their actions, Nazi authorities resolved to intervene in the reproductive capacities of persons classified as “hereditarily ill.” One of the first eugenic measures they initiated was the 1933 Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases (“Hereditary Health Law”). The law mandated forcible sterilization for nine disabilities and disorders, including schizophrenia and “hereditary feeblemindedness.” As a result of the law, 400,000 Germans were ultimately sterilized in Nazi Germany. In addition, eugenic beliefs shaped Germany’s 1935 Marital Hygiene Law. This law prohibited the marriage of persons with “diseased, inferior, or dangerous genetic material” to “healthy” German “Aryans.”  – Holocaust Encyclopedia

The term “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” was a euphemism used by Nazi Germany’s leaders. It referred to the mass murder of Europe’s Jews. It brought an end to policies aimed at encouraging or forcing Jews to leave the German Reich and other parts of Europe. Those policies were replaced by systematic annihilation of six million Jews. – Holocaust Encyclopedia

Superiority over others takes many forms and is expressed in many different ways. Discrimination based on racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, religion is as old as history. Hate is an ugly word and an ugly part of our history. Hate doesn’t make anybody or any society great, and it can’t be dressed up in nationalism or patriotism or religion to make it more fashionable or acceptable.