Over the years Trump has bragged about his intellect. He claims to have made the Dean’s List at Penn. He didn’t. He claims to have a ‘very fine brain’ which if true makes me shudder to think what a NOT very fine brain would be. (RFK Jr’s filled with live brainworms perhaps?) He claims to be a ‘very stable genius.’ Sure Donald, go somewhere and enjoy the nice warm cookie I just gave you. And of course he “aced” the ‘so hard doctors have never seen anyone get a score as high as I keep getting’ tests he won’t shut up about. Trump as we know has claimed to know more about any subject than any group of actual experts know combined. Yet for all that vast knowledge, his self-professed genius and mental acuity he sure as hell says “I don’t know” or some variation all the freaking time!
Think about it. Trump even came up with a nickname for his dodging reporters questions – the “Weave’ complete with his version of dancing when he trotted out that nonsense. However as this article from Alternet says when he’s confronted with a question from real reporters asking real, often tough questions “I don’t know” or some variation is an increasingly common response. Not that as I think about it he doesn’t get creative. For example telling reporters to ask so-and-so because they handled something. Or didn’t tell him about it. Blaming others or claiming he never knew in the first place is to me a form of “I don’t know.” The linked article’s point is that it’s increasingly his go-to answer and could lead to his downfall with MAGA:
In an article published on December 22, Salon’s Amanda Marcotte stresses that President Trump is using the words “I don’t know” a lot these days. And she argues that Trump’s “deflection” could hurt the MAGA movement at some point.
“Trump loves to brag about how he passed — or so he says — the test doctors use to screen for dementia,” Marcotte explains. “But when he is asked about anything harder and more politically fraught than ‘can you draw a clock?’ or ‘is this a picture of a duck?,’ the president is always quick with his favorite go-to answer: ‘I don’t know.’ When asked why he pardoned a January 6 rioter who attacked a police officer with a stun gun, Trump replied, ‘I don’t know, was it a pardon?’ It was, which is why the reporter asked.”
Look, sometimes I’m sure he damned well DOES know but doesn’t want to admit things. But I think it’s also a given that even if he’s not settling into actual dementia his brain, not all that great to begin with is affected by memory loss which happens with the average person of his age. Ok, in his case more than average but you get what I mean. It’s the very thing he (successfully) pinned on Biden who might have forgotten a handful of things but I keep pointing out two HUGE events before Biden stepped aside that proved he was still smarter than most. First was his hosting the annual NATO summit which was held in DC last year.
Over several days journalist saw for themselves how he led things like a maestro. Oh, they were looking for ANY slip up so they could get out and breathlessly report “BIDEN HAS LOST IT!!!!!” and he disappointed them. He knew his stuff in every discussion and both military and civilian leaders of our NATO allies were wondering WTF was up with American journalists and Americans in general questioning Biden’s mental fitness. Well, by god an embarrassed WH Press Corps wasn’t about to take THAT! They were chomping at the bit for another crack at Biden who obliged him with a prime-time, no topics off limits press conference and he schooled them like an Oxford Don.
Is there ANYONE who thinks Trump could have done either of those things? At least anyone who hasn’t drunk bathtubs full of toxic Trump-orange Kool Aid? Imagine the reaction if Biden, or Obama had said “I don’t know” (literally) to stuff any President should know even once. Trump does it all the time. I’d suggest reading the linked article for more examples because I don’t want to turn this into a long ramble.
I’d ask you to keep this in mind: Trump was never that sharp to begin with. I already noted he lied about making the Deans list when he graduated from Penn. I’d also note THAT was the end of his higher education. Compare that with other Presidents going back to Clinton. As for Penn, where Trump was enrolled in the Bachelor’s degree program at Wharton School of Business a renowned professor was quoted as calling Trump ‘the dumbest goddamn student I ever had!”. THAT was when Trumpty was in college and for most of us that’s when we are at our peak intellectually. Learning in a challenging environment and absorbing and processing tons of information.
For most people much of that ability and knowledge is retained for a long time, especially with additional education and related work experience. It’s been my experience in life that those who get a degree and go to work for a family business run by a tough patriarch don’t exercise those mental muscles. That’s almost certainly the case with Trump. Nearly seven decades AFTER he was in a challenging intellectual environment whatever ‘mental muscles’ he might have developed atrophied long ago.
The cognitive tests he brags about (I’m a senior citizen and a couple of times have had a doctor hit me with one) are NOT IQ tests. They are basic tools used to screen for signs of DEMENTIA. The term cognitive test is a polite way of saying it’s a test to see if people are starting to ‘lose their marbles’ and need more monitoring and/or assessment. Then there’s this: Trump lies like he breathes. HE says he “aced” the tests but did he? Now there’s a question!
In the end as the linked article states “I don’t know” seems to have become Trump’s favorite answer these days. As I’ve said I do believe sometimes he’s lying and just doesn’t want to answer for whatever reason. I also believe that more often (far more in fact) than not he really doesn’t know. Or remember enough to keep from sounding even dumber than he normally does. So maybe Alternet is right. Maybe his “I don’t know” to avoid answering things MAGAs want answers to could lead to his downfall. We’ll have to wait and see.
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I believe he may not know the answers frequently because he’s not really in the loop of what’s happening. People like Stephen Miller is actually running the show and only telling Trump things Trump wants to know. Of course he’s not interested in hearing any of that boring over his head government stuff though.
Maybe more like Miller tells Trump things Miller wants Trump to know.
Trump proved over and over that he couldn’t run a business unless he left it to hired pros; if he had his hands on the wheel the machine was headed for the ditch for sure. So why expect anything better when he’s faced with running an actual country, a very large and complex one?
The USA is on its way to being his biggest and best bankruptcy yet, so hang on folks, that ditch is a deep one.