Did William T Kelly say D. Trump was the dumbest student?
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Executive summary
Multiple contemporary accounts say Wharton marketing professor William T. Kelley privately told his friend Frank DiPrima that “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had,” a line DiPrima repeatedly attributed to Kelley over decades [1] [2]. That quotation has been widely reported and used to correct a fake post Trump shared that reversed the claim into “smartest,” but the underlying attribution rests on DiPrima’s retelling rather than a contemporaneous recorded remark by Kelley [3] [1].
1. The core claim and its provenance
The most commonly cited source for Kelley’s remark is Frank DiPrima, described as a close friend of William T. Kelley who said Kelley repeated the line “100 times over three decades” and quoted the phrase with its characteristic inflection [1] [2]. News outlets and fact-checking sites have repeated DiPrima’s account as the origin of the claim that Kelley thought Trump was “the dumbest goddamn student” [4] [5].
2. How the quote entered public debate
The quotation resurfaced in news cycles when social-media posts altered it: critics noted Donald Trump shared a fabricated post attributing the opposite — that Kelley called him “the smartest student” — which drew pushback and articles pointing out the reversal and the original, negative attribution [3] [6]. Reporting framed the DiPrima account as evidence that the “smartest” post was false and that Kelley’s reported view was clearly disparaging [3] [6].
3. What the sources actually document
Available reporting consistently traces the line back to DiPrima’s recollection of conversations with Kelley; multiple outlets quote DiPrima verbatim about Kelley’s repeated statement and emphasis [1] [2] [5]. There are no provided sources here that show a direct, contemporaneous recording, written note, or public statement from Kelley saying the line himself [1] [2]. In short: secondary accounts document the claim; primary documentation from Kelley is not cited in the provided reporting [1].
4. Corroboration, reliability and potential biases
DiPrima’s long friendship with Kelley is cited to bolster his credibility; outlets present him as an attorney who knew Kelley for decades and as the person who heard the remark “100 times” [1] [2]. That is corroboration by proximity but not independent contemporaneous evidence. Some outlets have used that testimony to assert Kelley’s view; others, including fact-checkers, treated DiPrima’s claim as credible but framed it as secondhand recollection [1] [3]. DiPrima’s perspective could reflect personal interpretation or memory; the reporting does not explore motives for exaggeration or error beyond noting his longtime friendship [1].
5. How the quote has been used politically
Reporting shows the line has been weaponized both ways: opponents cite Kelley’s alleged words to question Trump’s intellect, while supporters or sympathetic posts have propagated a false “smartest student” quote that Trump reposted, prompting criticism [3] [6]. Coverage highlights this inversion — the fabricated praise — as an example of how a disputed memory can be manipulated online [3].
6. What’s missing from the public record in these sources
The provided sources do not include a direct quote from William T. Kelley recorded during his life, a classroom transcript, or contemporaneous notes proving he said the phrase; they rely on DiPrima’s retrospective account [1] [2]. Available reporting does not show Wharton records or other former students independently confirming Kelley used that exact language in class [1] [5].
7. Bottom line for readers
Multiple reputable outlets report that Kelley’s friend DiPrima said the professor repeatedly called Trump “the dumbest goddamn student I ever had,” and that claim has been used to correct a false social-media post claiming the opposite [1] [3]. However, this body of reporting rests on DiPrima’s long-term recollection rather than on direct, contemporaneous evidence from Kelley himself in the materials provided [1] [2]. Readers should treat the attribution as well-sourced secondhand testimony widely reported, not as incontrovertible primary documentation [1] [3].