Kathrine Frich
Trump has frequently used his uncle to boost his own credentials.
When leaders are asked about complex modern technology, most rely on their expert advisers. One high-profile politician recently took a different route. He bypassed the experts and credited his own family tree for his towering intellect.
The genetics of genius
During an interview with TIME Magazine, Donald Trump shifted a conversation about artificial intelligence to his own brainpower. The former president praised tech executives like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman before highlighting his own smarts.
“We’re dealing with a very high level of IQ. Very, very high level. That’s a good thing. I like that. I like it,” Trump told the magazine.
He then quickly pivoted to his late uncle, Dr. John G. Trump, an MIT professor. He claimed that brilliance runs in the blood.
“You know, my uncle was at MIT for 41 years, and you know, I’m a-l believe in genetics, frankly, and I understand,” he boasted. “I have the highest of IQs. I have the highest.”
Social media bites back
Independent journalist Aaron Rupar shared the interview clip online, and the public reaction was incredibly swift. Commenters immediately seized on the genetic claims, according to the Irish Star.
One user pointed out the gap in proof. “Your uncle taught at MIT. You keep announcing that you inherited the highest IQ,” the user wrote, adding, “One of those things has a paper trail; the other has a microphone.”
Others were less gentle with their assessments. Another person noted the boast was “exactly what a low-IQ person would say. They would not know better.”
A third user simply stated the obvious rules of biology. “Having a smart uncle doesn’t mean you’re smart. That’s not how it works,” they wrote.
The notorious student
Trump has frequently used his uncle to boost his own credentials. In July, he even claimed his relative taught the Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski, at MIT.
The president recalled a supposed conversation with his uncle about the infamous criminal. He claimed his uncle described Kaczynski as a brilliant but difficult student.
“‘I said, ‘What kind of a student was he, Uncle John?’ Dr. John Trump. I said, ‘What kind of a student?’ And then he said, ‘Seriously, good.’ He said, ‘He’d correct, he’d go around correcting everybody,’ ” Trump stated.
A swift family denial
That dramatic classroom story quickly fell apart. Mary Trump, the president’s niece, took to YouTube to correct the record completely.
She called the claims “part of a very long rant showing Donald’s real-time mental decline.” She pointed out that her great-uncle was an electrical engineer, not a master of three different sciences.
More importantly, Kaczynski was never a student at MIT. The timeline itself makes the story impossible.
“The entire conversation Donald claims he had with his uncle John about Kaczynski could not possibly have happened because my great uncle John died at least 10 years before Kaczynski became infamous,” she explained.
