Trump says smart people don’t like me
Executive summary
Video clips and news accounts show President Trump saying a phrase widely rendered as “smart people don’t like me” at a private gala in Bedminster; outlets including The Daily Beast, RGJ and USA Today reported the line and published the clip [1] [2] [3]. Fact‑checking outlets and the person who posted the video say the short clip omits context and that Trump may have been quoting someone else, not describing himself [4] [2].
1. What the video shows and how outlets reported it
Short videos circulated on social media and were picked up by news outlets showing Trump at a Bedminster gala saying, “Smart people don’t like me,” which drew laughter from the audience; The Daily Beast, USA Today and regional papers published versions of the clip and reported the remark as he spoke at the event [1] [3] [2].
2. The missing context and the poster’s claim
Snopes reached out to Nicole Kiprilov, who posted the clip, and reported she told them Trump was relaying a quote from someone else and was not referring to himself — a claim that highlights the clip’s truncated context because the video does not include Trump’s preceding lines [4].
3. How fact‑checkers treated the clip
Regional fact‑check pieces and aggregate reporting flagged the same problem: the excerpted clip leaves out what came immediately before the line, so determining whether Trump spoke of himself or repeated someone else’s words is not possible from the posted footage alone [2].
4. Media framing and partisan reaction
National outlets presented the line directly, often as an example of Trump’s combative rhetoric toward critics, while some reactions on social platforms treated the phrase as confirmation of a broader narrative about Trump and “elite” critics; coverage included both straight reporting of the audio and commentary about motive and audience response [1] [5].
5. Why context matters here — implications for interpretation
If Trump was quoting another speaker, the phrase functions as reported speech and not a self‑characterization; if he meant it about himself, it signals a deliberate framing of critics as “smart” but out of step with his base. The short clip cannot settle which reading is accurate because the crucial lead‑in remarks are missing [4] [2].
6. What officials said (and didn’t say)
Snopes reported the poster’s claim that the line was quoted speech and noted the White House had not responded to a request for clarification by publication; other outlets ran the clip without an immediate official clarification on context, leaving the record incomplete [4] [2].
7. Where reporting agrees and where it diverges
All cited reporting agrees a clip exists of Trump saying the phrase at a Bedminster event and that it circulated widely [3] [1]. Fact‑check and regional pieces converge on the point that context is missing; some commentary pieces and social posts treated the line as an admission about his relationship to “smart” critics, revealing partisan divergence in interpretation [2] [5].
8. Limitations of available sources
Available sources do not include the full uncut remarks that would show what Trump said directly before the line — that absence prevents a definitive reading of whether he was quoting someone else or speaking of himself [4] [2]. No source in the package provides a White House clarification that unequivocally settles the point [4].
9. What to watch next
Further clarity would come from a longer video or a statement from the White House or the event hosts; until one of those appears in the reporting record, both interpretations — Trump quoting someone else, or Trump describing how “smart people” view him — remain plausible and reported as such by fact‑checkers and news outlets [4] [2].
Bottom line: multiple news outlets documented the viral clip of the line, while fact‑checkers and the video’s poster stressed that the excerpt omits context and may not reflect Trump speaking about himself — the current reporting does not provide the uncut remarks needed to resolve that ambiguity [3] [1] [4] [2].