Former President Donald Trump called Vice President Kamala Harris “low IQ,” “stupid” and lacking the “mental capacity” to debate him in a series of social media posts in August. A majority of Americans later concluded that she beat him in their September 10 showdown, but Trump doubled down. “Kamala Harris is mentally disabled,” he said at a rally in Wisconsin last month. “Joe Biden has developed a mental disorder. Kamala was born that way.”
By contrast, Trump frequently boasts that he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School, a prestigious university home to “super geniuses,” and claims “I’m really smart.” “That guy is really smart.”
Trump did not graduate magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. He also did not approve the release of college transcripts. And more than 50 years ago, it wasn’t that difficult for a transfer student (in this case, from Fordham) to get admitted.
Intelligence, both natural and acquired, is clearly not Trump’s strong suit. He has shown incredible ignorance of American history. He has claimed that noise from wind turbines causes cancer and that vaccines cause autism. He doesn’t understand that tariffs raise the retail price of imported goods, essentially impose a national sales tax on all Americans, disproportionately affect the poor, and increase inflation.
Trump’s public comments have also become increasingly inconsistent. His explanation that he wasn’t really gibbering (“You know, I took a turn. You know what a turn is. I’m going to talk about nine different things and they come back together nicely. It’s like my friend (Like, English professors say, ‘It’s the best thing I’ve ever seen.’”) It doesn’t pass the smell test.
Consider some examples:
After failing to properly pronounce the word “minimum” during a speech about illegal drugs in January, President Trump said, “We are the institutions that operate the strong death penalty system. We are going to wear this.”
At a rally last March, President Biden complained about a photo of him wearing a swimsuit. He mentioned Michael Jackson and Cary Grant (who pointed out that he wouldn’t look good in a swimsuit at 81) and bragged about how women loved him. “But it was an amazing phenomenon.” He continued: “I protect women. See, they talk about suburban housewives. I believe I am doing well. As you know, the polls were rigged. Of course, I don’t want to say it because I’ve been winning so much lately that it’s not rigged. Ignore that. “I really like opinion polls.”
When asked by the Economic Club of New York how he would reduce child care costs and what specific legislation he would propose on the subject, President Trump said, “Well, I will do that and we will sit down and talk about it.” Somebody said Senator Marco Rubio and my daughter Ivanka had a big impact on that issue. It’s a very important issue, but I think it’s because when I talk about numbers, parenting is parenting. It’s something you know you have to have. We have to have it in this country. But if you compare those numbers to the numbers I’m talking about by taxing foreign countries at levels they’re not used to – but they’ll get used to it very quickly – that won’t stop them. Although they are doing business with us, they will be subject to significant taxes when they send their products to our country. Those numbers are much larger and more manageable than any number we’re talking about, including child care. We will do that. “I’m hopeful that the waste and fraud that I mentioned and all the other things that are going on in this country will go down and we won’t have a deficit in a fairly short period of time.”
Trump’s inconsistency will give voters pause. Especially when you also consider his fundamental character flaws.
Trump claimed he “deserved personal attacks” and mocked Biden’s childhood stutter. He reposted vulgar and sexually explicit comments about Harris. And he lies about everything big and small. Crowd size. Crime rates, inflation rates, the number of immigrants entering the country illegally. These are the 2020 election results. Teachers decide whether transgender students need surgery. Haitian immigrants kidnap, kill, and eat pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Knowledge, intelligence, cognitive acuity, and character are paramount when electing the most powerful political figure in the world: the President of the United States.
Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor Emeritus of American Studies at Cornell University.
