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cali

(114,904 posts)
Fri May 6, 2016, 07:46 AM May 2016

I think much of Trump's appeal is his stupidity.

Stupid people find it a comfortable fit. He's saying what they think. Of course his hateful (stupid) bigotry is another thing that appeals. Hateful bigots find it a comfortable fit.

Yes, Trump is stupid. His language and syntax have long displayed that. Yes, stupid people (of privilege) go to Wharton. Yes, stupid rich people get even richer.

I'm sick of hearing that he's smart or canny. He is not.

And sorry, but there are a lot of stupid people.

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I think much of Trump's appeal is his stupidity. (Original Post) cali May 2016 OP
I also think his appeal is his wealth and beautiful family Happyhippychick May 2016 #1
A couple of more reasons... griloco May 2016 #2
Yet another reason.... meow2u3 May 2016 #4
But we were told that he had an IQ in the 99.990549055th percentile! Tommy_Carcetti May 2016 #3
Or that the products of his defacation don't stink. Nitram May 2016 #10
Gary Forbes, AKA: Donald Trump world wide wally May 2016 #21
For a while I actually thought so. Tommy_Carcetti May 2016 #37
Good information. world wide wally May 2016 #55
John Barron. Tommy_Carcetti May 2016 #56
Yep… that's it :) world wide wally May 2016 #57
yep kpete May 2016 #5
Carlin! THERE was a genious. maddiemom May 2016 #33
Never forget that half the population is below average... TreasonousBastard May 2016 #6
It's the George W. Bush love, cranked up on steroids. bullwinkle428 May 2016 #7
trump is far from stupid. Javaman May 2016 #8
Well said. nruthie May 2016 #12
Yes! Perfect assessment. maddiemom May 2016 #25
I don't buy it. cali May 2016 #13
He knows exactly which buttons to push Matrosov May 2016 #16
? Javaman May 2016 #18
Never mistake malicious intent for stupidity. maddiemom May 2016 #27
Agreed. He's cunning, but not smart. First Speaker May 2016 #30
A nation of rubes? maddiemom May 2016 #36
out of everything I wrote, you chose that. Javaman May 2016 #38
Duh---was that an insult? maddiemom May 2016 #40
well, then. Javaman May 2016 #44
Accepted. maddiemom May 2016 #62
Cali, I totally agree. Nitram May 2016 #9
You've probably nailed it. maddiemom May 2016 #39
The film "Idiocracy"... Bigmack May 2016 #11
And it keeps getting more scary than funny. maddiemom May 2016 #29
It's related to the "good guy to have a beer with" reason for voting for someone. pampango May 2016 #14
Trump is a genious Dirty Socialist May 2016 #15
Baloney. I've never met or heard a.genius who consistently speaks on a third grade level cali May 2016 #19
Trump has sure outsmarted the M$M and the rest of the Republicans Fumesucker May 2016 #22
Outsmarted? No. Their greed and his showmanship, are not indicative of intelligence cali May 2016 #23
Misunderestimate Trump at your peril Fumesucker May 2016 #28
Love her or hate her...Hillary is one cool cucumber. maddiemom May 2016 #32
I didn't say his appeal isn't potent. And bullshit that he's a talented natural. cali May 2016 #64
At least someone is finally talking to stupid people in a language they can understand Major Nikon May 2016 #17
Trump is far from stupid nadinbrzezinski May 2016 #20
I completely disagree cali May 2016 #24
Sadly...I think it is his racism n/t hibbing May 2016 #26
Yeah. The Moron Americans have finally found their candidate... First Speaker May 2016 #31
For the most part, he doesn't say anything of substance. TryLogic May 2016 #34
There are all different kinds of intelligence. Demit May 2016 #35
Agreed Dirty Socialist May 2016 #41
This is part of the problem with destroying the very concept Volaris May 2016 #42
Male version of Palin libodem May 2016 #43
They love his one liners.. they dont have to think too much to get what he is saying. DCBob May 2016 #45
I once heard Studs Terkel speak, and when someone asked him why Lydia Leftcoast May 2016 #46
Any puppet would do libodem May 2016 #48
I think the word is ignorant. Turin_C3PO May 2016 #51
I think you're right. This was certainly true when Bush Jr. was running for President... bjo59 May 2016 #47
Trump is who they want to be: a rich asshole who can say or do anything with no repercussions TeamPooka May 2016 #49
Most people aren't truly stupid. Turin_C3PO May 2016 #50
The average American IQ is 100. cali May 2016 #59
Yes. Turin_C3PO May 2016 #61
Probably has at least average or better "intelligence". It's father would have euthanized jtuck004 May 2016 #52
It's an act. Odin2005 May 2016 #53
Trump has a shit ton of money. In the LibDemAlways May 2016 #54
I will agree with you, Andy823 May 2016 #58
and we picked the BORING one. pansypoo53219 May 2016 #60
+1000 smirkymonkey May 2016 #63
Yep..."he speaks like us" is a sign of something... Rex May 2016 #65
I think they're all drunk. rug May 2016 #66

Happyhippychick

(8,379 posts)
1. I also think his appeal is his wealth and beautiful family
Fri May 6, 2016, 08:08 AM
May 2016

People are aspirational and they think if they vote for it they will get it.

griloco

(832 posts)
2. A couple of more reasons...
Fri May 6, 2016, 08:13 AM
May 2016

He's a con artist. (He has the New York Values of Willie Sutton and Bernie Madoff)

He "loves" everybody.

He's lying to everyone else, but he's telling you the truth.

#MakeAmericaWhiteAgain

meow2u3

(24,764 posts)
4. Yet another reason....
Fri May 6, 2016, 08:20 AM
May 2016

He wants to make it acceptable for bigots to belittle women and minorities without being called out on their prejudices.

#MakeAmericaHateAgain

Tommy_Carcetti

(43,185 posts)
3. But we were told that he had an IQ in the 99.990549055th percentile!
Fri May 6, 2016, 08:17 AM
May 2016


Also, that he routinely scores 18 holes in one in a round of golf and that triple rainbows announced his birth. And that he doesn't defecate.

(By the way, the "Gary Forbes" responsible for this ludicrous graphic and many others on social media is a con artist from New York named Gary Pasquariello, whose failed past careers have include new-aged pianist and who currently is threatening GOP delegates on social media who aren't voting for Trump)

Tommy_Carcetti

(43,185 posts)
37. For a while I actually thought so.
Fri May 6, 2016, 11:17 AM
May 2016

But after doing some internet research I actually found out that there was an actual grifter who goes by the name of Gary Forbes (but whose actual name is Gary Pasquariello), and his work predates that of the Trump campaign.

https://www.facebook.com/garyforbespianist?fref=ts

First he tried selling some crappy management advice book which nobody bought:

http://www.amazon.com/Gary-Forbes/e/B0041KTIUI

Then he transitioned into truly awful new age piano music (complete with fake reviews from non-existent celebrities and faked non-existent concert footage):

http://garyforbes.wix.com/pianist

Obviously, that didn't work out either, so he's shilling for Trump, claiming fake celebrity endorsements and apparently acting as his heavy:

http://wonkette.com/600818/trump-guy-has-this-one-weird-trick-to-ratfck-all-the-republican-delegates

http://www.snopes.com/chuck-yeager-donald-trump-endorsement/

The only question that remains is whether he's being paid (most likely under the table) by the Trump campaign to proselytize Trump over social media, or if he's just some Trump mega-fanboy whose doing this all on his own for the love of Trump. My money's on the former.

world wide wally

(21,748 posts)
55. Good information.
Fri May 6, 2016, 02:47 PM
May 2016

Who was the guy that would give phone interviews touting Trump that actually was Donald Trump?

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
6. Never forget that half the population is below average...
Fri May 6, 2016, 08:51 AM
May 2016

in everything. But none of them know that.

(Barnum made a fortune knowing it, though.)

Javaman

(62,531 posts)
8. trump is far from stupid.
Fri May 6, 2016, 09:20 AM
May 2016

he knows exactly what demographic he's appealing to.

the outraged morons who blame everyone else for their own problems.

so what do they want to hear? they want to hear that it's everyone else's fault and not theirs.

trump says this and that about minorities and how they are to blame, he says this and that about women and how they are to blame, he says this and that about anyone else other than the mouth breathing morons who are actually to blame.

when you are down at the bottom of the food chain, the very last thing the majority of these uneducated fools want to hear is: that they caused their own problems, because that means they have to confront their own fuck ups.

they can't deal with the fact that they were born in the dugout and will never leave the dug out.

the rich appeal to them, because the falsely believe, that while trump was born on home plate thinking he hit a homer to get there, the fools that follow him all think that because he "talks like them" they do can be "born again" on home plate. that they are all horatio alger, that they too, while not born rich can be rich by working hard! (at their crappy waged jobs) move up the food chain (they don't have the brains to move up the food chain) and be ceo of their own company (they haven't the foggiest notion what a ceo is let alone what one actually does).

the meme, which trump follows to a T, and has been trumpted by the right wing for decades is: you too can be rich!

this is nothing more than the late night tv fever dreams of get rich quick husksters that have been plying the gullible for years.

all trump has done is take that same line of bullshit, wrapped it in "plain speak" aka appealing to the racist morons sense of self loathing, and made it his own.

we now live in a nation of self indulgent ego inflated fools who think they are one genius invention away, one american idol win away, one reality tv contestant away from being famous or wealthy or both.

we live in the jobless economy, where jobs are outsourced and wages are declining.

those who live in the poorest parts of the nation, continue to vote against their own interests, because they don't want complex answers to their daily problems. Their daily problems are already complex, they want easy digestible answers.

they want the holy grail, they brass ring, the miracle that will lift them out of their daily misery and into a life of ease. aka pay their bills without having to choose between eating or the lights going out.

combine this with decades long propaganda that tells them that the very programs they subsist upon: welfare, unemployment and Medicaid; are evil. However, while they protest against these very same programs, they fear for them being taken away.

the duality of stupidity.

they are at odds with their perceived notion that democrats and public assistant programs are diametrically opposed.

Ironically, in a recent study it was found that they are against Obama care but for the Affordable Care Act. A perfect example of what I'm driving at.

so to loop back around, is trump stupid? hell no, he's knows full well he's taking full advantage of the nation of rubes we live in and I can bet you on a stack of money I do not have, that trump laughs his ass off every single night at these fools.

maddiemom

(5,106 posts)
25. Yes! Perfect assessment.
Fri May 6, 2016, 10:40 AM
May 2016

Trump is far from dumb, and he knows exactly how to appeal to those who are. They started coming out of the woodwork when President Obama was elected.

 

Matrosov

(1,098 posts)
16. He knows exactly which buttons to push
Fri May 6, 2016, 10:18 AM
May 2016

Somehow he always taps into the right anger. One good example is how he says he wants to protect American workers from job outsourcing, which is a very un-conservative position. But there are enough blue collar Republicans who are mad about outsourcing, and his message resonates with them.

If he's stupid, he must be one of the luckiest idiots alive. I reckon he's actually a master troll.

Javaman

(62,531 posts)
18. ?
Fri May 6, 2016, 10:28 AM
May 2016

odd.

I stated trump in not stupid.

I didn't say he was intelligent.

I made the statement saying that trump was a side show huckster.

sarah palin is a dimwit, but not stupid.

grifters know their marks.

they know how to play them.

if you think for one moment, that a person who knows how to pull a scam is stupid, then you have an awful lot to learn about people.

maddiemom

(5,106 posts)
36. A nation of rubes?
Fri May 6, 2016, 11:14 AM
May 2016

All you need to see the light is to teach for a few years in a school that idealizes athletes (some who happily are NOT dumb and shape up after the college scouts come along) and denigrates "the brains." A few years into college separates who will be more successful in real life, but continuing generations of would -be jock dads also seem to keep coming.

Javaman

(62,531 posts)
38. out of everything I wrote, you chose that.
Fri May 6, 2016, 11:20 AM
May 2016

wow, just wow.

it's this "nation of rubes" that we live in that have trump as the repuke candidate.

I rest my case.

maddiemom

(5,106 posts)
40. Duh---was that an insult?
Fri May 6, 2016, 11:35 AM
May 2016

Taking off from one remark doesn't mean I didn't read the whole thing. Get a clue. Actually I felt complimentary toward your post, but in the spirit of your simplistic reaction, am taking it back. So there!

Nitram

(22,825 posts)
9. Cali, I totally agree.
Fri May 6, 2016, 09:25 AM
May 2016

It has been apparent for some time that many GOP voters like stupid. That's why they loved Bush. Maybe they see those who speak with intelligence as feeling superior to them.

maddiemom

(5,106 posts)
39. You've probably nailed it.
Fri May 6, 2016, 11:26 AM
May 2016

It may be that previous generations of voters (prior to WWII and the baby boom) weren't so steeped in "self esteem" by their parents and teachers. It was OK, previously, to admire a political leader (to disaster, admittedly, at times). But the idea that a national leader should be more "like you" is a new phenomenon.

pampango

(24,692 posts)
14. It's related to the "good guy to have a beer with" reason for voting for someone.
Fri May 6, 2016, 10:10 AM
May 2016

Not that any of us could afford the beer that Donald drinks.

Dirty Socialist

(3,252 posts)
15. Trump is a genious
Fri May 6, 2016, 10:11 AM
May 2016

However, he is intellectually lazy. All of his intelligence is concentrated in selling himself and self-aggrandization.

Fumesucker

(45,851 posts)
22. Trump has sure outsmarted the M$M and the rest of the Republicans
Fri May 6, 2016, 10:34 AM
May 2016

Almost literally a billion dollars worth of free advertising and now they are panicking over the Frankenstien monster they helped inflate.

There are lots of ways of being smart, Trump is certainly smart in some ways.

Fumesucker

(45,851 posts)
28. Misunderestimate Trump at your peril
Fri May 6, 2016, 10:46 AM
May 2016

He's shrewd and a dirty fighter, I think Hillary may get her clock cleaned, she hasn't come up against a candidate who will also say anything before and Trump is better at it.

Like I said the other day, Hillary is the not-particularly-gifted athlete who has made it to the big leagues purely on grit, dogged determination and stroking the right people, Trump is the natural who never practiced or learned the basics but is so talented he's a contender anyway.

maddiemom

(5,106 posts)
32. Love her or hate her...Hillary is one cool cucumber.
Fri May 6, 2016, 10:59 AM
May 2016

Better believe she'll be super prepared for Trump. He has many vulnerable crevices to be dug into. I look forward to seeing them face off. Hillary has spent the last couple decades dealing with people who'll "say anything" and both Clintons have been dealing with haters during that time. I voted for Bernie in my state's primary, but I'm much more comfortable seeing Hillary face off Trump.

Major Nikon

(36,827 posts)
17. At least someone is finally talking to stupid people in a language they can understand
Fri May 6, 2016, 10:27 AM
May 2016

It's not as if Palin is going to step up to the plate again.

 

nadinbrzezinski

(154,021 posts)
20. Trump is far from stupid
Fri May 6, 2016, 10:32 AM
May 2016

His speech is a calculated tv act. We like to think people we don't agree with are stupid. This leads to under estimating them.

As to his appeal...one word: Anger.

TryLogic

(1,723 posts)
34. For the most part, he doesn't say anything of substance.
Fri May 6, 2016, 11:02 AM
May 2016

I just heard an interview on NPR with a small town judge in Montana. He pointed out that "Trump is a white board -- people can see in him anything they want to see". I had thought the same thing.

What does "make America great again" mean? For many, it probably means "make America white again"
(explaining the frequent comparisons with Hitler).

I really wish some reporter would ask a bunch of people what Trump means when he makes one of his ink blot comments that could be interpreted in a hundred different ways.

 

Demit

(11,238 posts)
35. There are all different kinds of intelligence.
Fri May 6, 2016, 11:08 AM
May 2016

He doesn't have linguistic intelligence, no. But I think he is people-smart, the way good salesmen are. They can read you, and tailor their pitch to you.

http://fundersandfounders.com/9-types-of-intelligence/

Volaris

(10,272 posts)
42. This is part of the problem with destroying the very concept
Fri May 6, 2016, 12:06 PM
May 2016

That the Academic or Professional Elite in America know what the hell they are talking about. If I've been told by 'reputable' people that professors and professionals are dumb, and that IM smart, then OF COURSE I'm qualified to be Prezidunt. Only reason I don't get to, is cause rich liburls won't let me. So, I find a stand in whos just as 'smart' as I am (who also happens to be rich, so that the liberals can't stop him that way) to support.

Their support for him is rooted in 40 years of brainwashing that tells them 'you're smart, and everyone who actually knows better just hates you because you love Baby Jeebus and so wants you to fail so youre just like the -insert minority of choice-.'

We've allowed conservative 'intellectuals' to go ahead and destroy actual intellectualism in this country. Now that destruction finally includes themselves, and they're all asad. What did they think was gonna happen? Sunshine and Roses??

Fuck them. This is what they get. A Landslide Loser who will take conservativism with him when he goes down.

NO SYMPATHY for these fuckers. EVER!!!!

DCBob

(24,689 posts)
45. They love his one liners.. they dont have to think too much to get what he is saying.
Fri May 6, 2016, 12:44 PM
May 2016

Idiocracy fulfilled.

Lydia Leftcoast

(48,217 posts)
46. I once heard Studs Terkel speak, and when someone asked him why
Fri May 6, 2016, 12:52 PM
May 2016

Reagan had been so popular (actually, that was all hype--his popularity was only average), Terkel replied, "Because he made it OK to be stupid. Stupid people recognized him as one of their own."

Turin_C3PO

(14,012 posts)
51. I think the word is ignorant.
Fri May 6, 2016, 02:17 PM
May 2016

In my experience, most people aren't truly "stupid&quot unless they have an actual mental disability) but they are very willfully ignorant.

bjo59

(1,166 posts)
47. I think you're right. This was certainly true when Bush Jr. was running for President...
Fri May 6, 2016, 01:00 PM
May 2016

even when Reagan was running. I remember that campaign and how every day the newspapers would report on yet another incredibly stupid quote from Reagan. A lot of Democrats were sure he would lose because of the garbled, nonsensical things he would utter publicly but it ended up being that this was one of the things that endeared Reagan to voters.

Turin_C3PO

(14,012 posts)
50. Most people aren't truly stupid.
Fri May 6, 2016, 02:14 PM
May 2016

However many,many are willfully ignorant. I don't know how we can change that. As far as Trump goes, I'd wager he's about average in intelligence.

Turin_C3PO

(14,012 posts)
61. Yes.
Fri May 6, 2016, 04:05 PM
May 2016

But I don't consider that "stupid". It's clearly not genius either but someone with a 100 IQ can understand issues if they engage their brain.

 

jtuck004

(15,882 posts)
52. Probably has at least average or better "intelligence". It's father would have euthanized
Fri May 6, 2016, 02:23 PM
May 2016

anything that deviated that far from their standard. This was just one of the eggs that survived.

The father was a real estate swindler, btw, one of the original bank$ter/jihadists. Took a lot of taxpayer money and far from stupid.

His progeny is a construct of the least we can be, which is why he is so comfortable to so many. Takes no effort. Don't equate that with stupid, however. We make bad decisions about risk every day.



LibDemAlways

(15,139 posts)
54. Trump has a shit ton of money. In the
Fri May 6, 2016, 02:34 PM
May 2016

simple minded USA, that translates to "He's smart. He's doing something right or he wouldn't be so filthy rich." The morons out there stuck in crappy jobs admire someone who seemingly has it all -- hot wife and more money than he knows what to do with. They mistake him for a self made man, not the guy who won the rich parent inherited $$$$ sweepstakes.

Trump isn't stupid, but he's so full of himself and entitled that he thinks he can say and do whatever he wants and get away with it. Thus far he has. It will be an interesting GE in the fall.

Andy823

(11,495 posts)
58. I will agree with you,
Fri May 6, 2016, 03:22 PM
May 2016

There are a lot of stupid people around. I have seen some of them here on DU advocating that a Trump presidency wouldn't really be that bad, and that all the "fear" is just more tactics to get you to vote for Hillary. Anyone who actually believes that crap has to be stupid if you ask me.

One thing for sure, if Trump became president millions of people are going to suffer, not just here, but around the world. You just can put a psychopath like him in the WH and expect it to be OK. The crap about both parties being the same is utter stupidity with a capital S.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
65. Yep..."he speaks like us" is a sign of something...
Fri May 6, 2016, 06:24 PM
May 2016

Trump loves his uneducated followers, they make him feel smart.

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