«I’ve made completely unscientific observations of the former president, and for the purposes of this answer my only credential is my 15 years in the desert.
Still, I’ve watched him give speeches and interviews and read about him. He may not do well on an IQ test, and his general fund of knowledge may be shallow and his vocabulary limited, but he is also extremely effective in convincing people, millions of people, that he is the only one who can right all wrongs that beset them, eliminate their enemies, and has become a kind of latter-day Messiah inspiring utter belief and devotion in shockingly huge numbers of people. He has enormous skill in manipulating fervent crowds of adoring acolytes, typically folks with vague notions that they have been knocked from their previous perch of racial/ethnic/religious superiority — to the extent that he can call immigrants “vermin poisoning the blood of true Americans,” and get rousing cheers and even deeper devotion.
I don’t know how you define “intelligent,” but Mr. Trump is certainly a highly skilled performer who has touched a quivering chord and gained tremendous traction among certain demographics. He is in that sense fascinating, a compelling figure, along with similarly skilled manipulators of crowds throughout history.
Simply, for me, he continues to amaze. I’m no historian, but I’m familar enough with past demagogues who become demigods to recognize the power a highly skilled person like the former president wields.
If one of the “intelligences” not measured by academic performance or IQ tests is highly skillful persuasion of followers, saying exactly what they long to hear, Mr. Trump is the “highly stable genius” he claims to be in that narrow but acutely dangerous sense.»
David McPhee, Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Minnesota
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