@rbreich
"“Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart,” he tweeted. As he recounted, “I went to an Ivy League college … I did very well. I’m a very intelligent person.”"

I just happened to mention this to someone the other day too - people who actually are intelligent don't go around saying "I'm a genius!" - they're usually quite humble about it, as opposed to narcissists trying to claim they're greater than they really are...

@rbreich I enjoy your posts and believe you are right, until now.

Your post maybe good, but I am not going to a substack address.

Now I really question how tone deaf you might be.

Remember this?

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/substack-extremism-nazi-white-supremacy-newsletters/676156/

@rbreich

All.
All the dumb.

@rbreich
My thinking is that we humans can only be so smart, else we would have solved all the problems we encounter.

But Trump (and some others) seem to prove that unlike brilliance, which seems bounded, there seems no limit to stupidity. None.

@rbreich Without intending to dip into conspiracy theorizing, it might not necessarily be stupidity, per se. It is certainly ill-advised, but we have to remember that this is a man who considers himself above the rules and above the law. He clearly has impulse control issues, his degrading speech patterns suggest possible mental decline, and I don't think anyone could argue that he hasn't been a narcissist for most of his life.

But one alternative explanation could be that he knows how to sell. What he's selling right now is hatred and victimhood to his base. "Look at how they're treating me!" is what he howls to the press and on social media every chance he gets. His base eats it up. He doesn't need to convince the entire nation, he just needs to convince the enough people in the right places to attempt another electoral win like he did in 2016.

Here's hoping the American people won't fall for it again.