William T. Kelley; Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.

1. How the quote entered public circulation

The specific phrasing is not from a recorded lecture or published interview by William T. Kelley; it derives from Frank DiPrima, identified as a close friend of Kelley, who wrote that Kelley told him the line repeatedly over decades — a posthumous, second‑hand anecdote that has been republished by outlets such as Daily Kos and picked up by local and national outlets ^{[1] [4] [5]}.

2. Which outlets have repeated the line and how they framed it

Left‑leaning and activist sites (for example Daily Kos and MeidasTouch) have published the quote as an anecdote about Kelley’s private opinion of Trump, and other outlets have reproduced DiPrima’s account while noting its second‑hand nature ^{[1] [6]}. Education and higher‑ed commentary pieces use the anecdote when discussing whether professors should speak publicly about notable former students, again noting the quote comes from a friend’s recollection ^[3].

3. Fact‑checking and provenance concerns

Fact‑checkers and retrospective reporters point out the remark surfaced only after Kelley’s death and is not corroborated by a direct Kelley statement or contemporaneous record; TruthOrFiction’s review emphasizes the quote is posthumous and second‑hand ^[2]. That provenance matters: a vivid, repeated private remark from a friend is not the same as a verifiable public quotation from the professor himself ^[2].

4. What supporters and critics of Trump point to

Critics of Trump use the anecdote as part of a broader portrait questioning his academic strength and temperament, citing classmates and student‑paper reporting that Trump did not stand out academically at Wharton ^{[7] [5]}. Defenders could point to the anecdotal and second‑hand origin of the line as weakening its evidentiary value; some outlets stress that Kelley never publicly published the comment himself ^{[2] [3]}.

5. Corroborating context about Trump at Wharton

Separate from Kelley’s alleged comment, multiple pieces note contemporaneous indicators — for example, the Wharton student newspaper’s reporting that Trump did not appear on the Dean’s List in 1968 — which some journalists cite when assessing Trump’s academic record at Wharton ^{[8] [5]}. These are different kinds of evidence: archival records versus recollections from friends.

6. How the quote has been used and sometimes misused

Media have sometimes presented the line in provocative headlines without distinguishing anecdote from attribution; others have highlighted that Trump himself has shared and reshared various quotes about his education, sometimes prompting counter‑reporting about accuracy ^{[6] [9]}. The mix of activist outlets, social sharing, and later fact‑checking created a cycle where an anecdote gained wide traction despite weak primary sourcing ^{[6] [2]}.

7. What the available reporting does not resolve

Available sources do not include a direct, contemporary statement from Kelley himself confirming the wording, nor do they produce contemporaneous classroom records or recordings in which Kelley made that exact remark publicly ^{[2] [3]}. Thus the claim rests on DiPrima’s recollection and subsequent republication ^[1].

8. Takeaway for readers evaluating the claim

Treat the line as a vivid, second‑hand anecdote attributed to a friend of Kelley: it signals how at least one longtime colleague remembers Kelley’s private view, but it is not a contemporaneous, independently verified quotation from Kelley himself. Reporting and fact‑checking sources explicitly note that the remark surfaced posthumously via DiPrima and should be understood in that provenance context ^{[1] [2] [3]}.