Donald Trump's hold on the GOP nomination for president in 2024 remains strong, despite some recent news that other candidates might finally be getting a look in.
While the former president has commanded the contest throughout the year, one poll this week put Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ahead among a group of younger Republican voters.
Trump's attitude toward his voter base was also questioned in one social media post that claimed he'd denigrated the intellect of GOP voters.
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by user @DanielleCandela, posted on August 25, 2023, and viewed 63,200 times, included a quote attributed to Trump from a 1998 edition of People Magazine, in which he allegedly said: "If I were to run, I'd run as a Republican. They're the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they'd still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific."
@DanielleCandela tweeted: "The billionaire flew to Georgia from his private golf resort, on his private imitation Air Force One, with a fake tan, filled out a booking sheet with fake information, had to get a bail-bondsman, then got back on his plane to grift his cult. He was right they're that stupid."
The Facts
The quote has an imperviousness similar to other Trump comments, such as when in 2016 he claimed he could "shoot somebody" on New York's Fifth Avenue and still not lose voters.
However, there is no record that Trump ever said the quote shared on X denigrating the GOP voter base.
The false quote has been in circulation since 2015. People Magazine, alleged to have printed the quote, told factcheck.org that year it had no record of having ever done so. It found no archives of the quote and said there was no interview in 1998. Further searches for the quote by factcheck.org returned no archived results.
While Trump spoke about the notion of becoming president long before he began his campaign for the 2016 election, his political allegiances would often fluctuate, at least when asked about running for the White House.
A 2015 report by The Smoking Gun, based on voter records, found Trump had re-registered to differing political parties, including the Democrats, five times.
However, in spite of Trump's floating political history and a similarity in tone to some of his other comments, the evidence shows he did not call Republicans the "dumbest voters" in the U.S.
The Ruling
False.
Donald Trump never said that Republicans were the "dumbest voters" in the U.S.
The made-up quote has been circulating online since 2015. People Magazine, to which it's attributed, has said archive searches found no repetitions or derivations of the claim. It has not been attributed elsewhere.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
