Donald Trump Appeared to Suggest That Smart People Tend Not to Support Him

President Donald Trump has been an active part of political life for almost a decade now, and in that time, it's become pretty apparent that he says what's on his mind. That can mean that he says offensive or problematic things, and also that sometimes, he might contradict himself or even put down the people who put him in office.

During a recent appearance at his golf course in New Jersey, the president appeared to suggest that he doesn't think smart people like him. Here's what we know about what he actually said, and the somewhat strange implications of it.

According to reporting in The Daily Beast, Trump told attendees at a gala at his golf course in Bedminster, N.J., “Smart people don’t like me, you know? And they don’t like what we talk about."

The crowd chuckled at the remark, which was probably meant to be more than a little sarcastic. Trump was probably suggesting that people who are widely thought of as smart don't like him. As is often the case, Trump was positioning himself as on the side of the common people.

Of course, the implications of the statement were also unmissable, with Trump seeming to suggest that he doesn't think his own supporters are very smart. That's probably not actually what he was trying to say, but it's easy to see how you could get there.

Trump apparently made the comment while he was discussing Tyler Robinson, the alleged shooter of Charlie Kirk who was arrested days after the shooting.

“It must have been traumatic because the parents are conservative people — supposed to be very nice people — living in Utah, and the father turns in the son,” he said. “Boy, that’s a tough deal. Actually, I asked somebody in the FBI, how often does that happen where, knowing even the guilt, that a father will turn in or parents will turn in the son. And he said, ‘Almost never.'"

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Trump's comment was an easy way for those who genuinely don't like him to take a compliment and do a little bit of dunking.

"What amazes me is that Donald Trump literally said today that 'smart people don't like him,' which means his supporters, or 'the people who do like him,' are uneducated dumb s--ts ... And not a single MAGA was offended or has said anything. He was right, and I'm baffled," one person wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Of course, Trump's comments are unlikely to move many people, especially since his supporters seem uniquely willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on a range of issues. He's said worse things about the people who support him and has managed to remain relevant anyway.

Of course, there are "smart people" of all kinds who believe very different things about politics. Being intelligent is just one to understand a person, and although it's the one that counts the most in school, it's almost definitely not the most important.