This tweet came across my feed yesterday:
This is not the first time a tweet of this sort has shown up on my feed, but it is the first time I’ve thought anything about it. Usually I keep scrolling as it just seems like a click-bait kind of post. Not this time.
This time it got me to thinking about the question. The corrupt part of the question, to me, is a no brainer. He stole top secret documents, was twice impeached, now has a judge say he led an insurrection, faces 91 counts for corrupt things he did as president and has been charged and convicted on things he did as a private citizen (such as fraud and defamation), and continues to grift his cultists while also spewing the Big Lie. All of this is corruption to the core!
It’s the part of the question asking if Trump is dumb that I’ve reflected upon. Dumb as in stupid or having a lesser intellect. As few as a couple of months ago I probably would have agreed that Trump is dumb. I might actually begin to say he just might be a genius (not stable one mind you), but definitely smart.
I mean, no one else has been able to start as a Democrat, be in favor of choice, give compliments to liberal politicians, and then come in as a Republican and take over the party in less than a year. And, mind you, maintain that control even after losing handily at the ballot box himself, and bringing other Republicans down with him over time. Even as a loser he is being a winner.
Trump still dominates the Republican Party, although I think it is past time to start calling it the Trumpist Party or even the Authoritarian Party, rather than Republican Party. He still dominates the media and is “taking” over more networks in terms of treating him favorably other than Fox (anyone heard of Univision?). He still dominates the Trumpist (Republican) base. He can still dominate the collection of millions of dollars with his victimhood. He still dominates spewing white nationalism and Facist rhetoric with impunity. He still dominates being able to get away with breaking laws and gag orders with no real consequence.
That sounds anything other than dumb.
Lee Iacocca infamously said that he was never the smartest person in the room, but that “I hire brighter than me and then I get out of their way.” In many ways this is what Trump has done (but most definitely not always).
Think about it, he knows how to work the press to no end. They know it, it knows it. They know they shouldn’t, but he knows they value profit over integrity and facts.
He knows how to work politicians. McCarthy went to kiss the ring. Johnson has gone to kiss the ring. McConnell tolerated him to be able to take over the judiciary. Cruz cow-towed to him to get his support. Marjorie Taylor-Greene and Gym (Jim) Jordan, and so many other Trumpists (Republicans) across the nation have all bowed-down to him to gain or maintain power, raise money, and help bring Trump closer to becoming the authoritarian dictator of the United States, so close that democracy in the our country is hanging by a thread.
As dangerously, Trump is smart enough to be able to both speak the language of white supremacists to the point of their willingness to foment fear and violence for him (think January 6th and voter intimidation).
Trump is also smart enough to bring the Christian-nationalists to his side as well even as he has many divorces, fraud, philandering, sexual assaults, and even possibly pedophilia throughout his life.
If one is paying attention, Trump is stating exactly what he wants to do. He tried some of it while in office. He now has Project 2025. He holds nothing back with his plans of revenge to anyone who hasn’t, and doesn’t support him. All those who aren’t on the Trumpist bandwagon will pay the price if elected. Just like Hitler did his worst damage after being legally elected. Then, used his influence with his party members to obliterate Germany’s laws, and made Hitler dictator with no checks and balances, which we as a nation seem to have forgotten how all of that turned out.
I’ll come back to the original question from the tweet and ask it of you. Do you think Trump is the dumbest or most corrupt president in history?
Why or why not?
Then, what part are you going to do to keep him from being re-elected and his sycophants from also being re-elected starting with school boards to sheriffs to state legislators to judges and to the United States Congress and White House?
How are you doing your part of save democracy?
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 