President Trump did not refer to Republicans as 'dumbest' voters

A magazine photo claiming that US President Donald Trump referred to Republican voters as ‘dumbest voters’ is false.

The photo- that has gone viral on social media platforms quotes the Peoples Magazine in 1998, where it is alleged Trump said if he were to dip his toes in politics, he would use the Republican ticket.

“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,” read the message purporting to be a quote from Trump.

Several Twitter users including Azeem Butt ValryLeBourg and MuthuiMkenya in reference to the ongoing US election indicated that one does not have to be smart if their followers are stupid.

While the quote has been debunked several times since it apparently surfaced in 2015, users have recently been resharing it on social media especially after a Democratic Candidate Joe Biden was projected as the President-Elect for the United States.

The Star’s fact-check desk established that the meme was first debunked by SNOPES in 2015, followed by other independent debunks.

The magazine’s spokesperson Julie Farin had told Factcheck.org, “People looked into this exhaustively when it first surfaced back in Oct. (2015). We combed through every Trump story in our archive. We couldn’t find anything remotely like this quote–and no interview at all in 1998”.

According to the fact-check, in 1998, Trump was cited frequently in the pages of People, but at the time, most of the stories were about his pending divorce from Marla Maples and appearances at various social and entertainment events.

Other outlets including CNN, AP, REUTERS, The Journal.ie, Business Insider and FACTCHECK.ORG have published articles debunking the claim.

FACTCHECK.ORG  in their article said People’s magazine archive showed Trump did appear in the publication in the 1990s, but the coverage was mostly centered on his personal relationships.

The article indicated there were several stories in the late 1990s about Trump’s desire with a presidential run. (This became a running theme for Trump, who claimed he was considering a run for president in 1988, 2000, 2004 and 2012).

Another fact-check done by REUTERS  indicates that on September 2, 1987, shortly after releasing a full-page newspaper ad criticizing U.S. foreign policy, Trump identified himself as a Republican during an interview with CNN’S Larry King.

Trump told King that he had no interest in running for president.

In December 1987, People published a profile on Donald Trump titled “Too Darn Rich”. The article quoted him saying he was too busy to run for president ( here ).

Most iterations of the meme feature a photo of Trump during an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1988 when he said he would probably not run for president but wouldn’t rule it out.

While other articles and interviews from the late 1980s and 1990s show Trump did publicly speak about his political affiliations and the possibility of running for office ( here ), there is no evidence of him ever saying the alleged quote or making any similar statement.

According to SNOPES, while the Fox News Channel was rolled out across major American news markets between 1996 and 2000 (and thus isn’t entirely chronologically out of place in a circa-1998 quote), the network wasn’t nearly as prominent or widely watched until the 2000 election of George W. Bush, the September 11th attacks in 2001, and the start of the Iraq War in 2003.

Before that time, although Fox News was making its way into living rooms across the United States, it was not exceptionally well-known (or particularly regarded as a right-leaning outlet) in 1998.

The Star’s verdict is that the meme with the quote attributed to President Trump is bogus and false. 

This story was produced by The Star in partnership with Code for Africa’s iLAB data journalism programme, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie.