# Trump and Weaponized Stupidity **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [June 21, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923 "2025-06-21T01:28:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/1 "2025-06-21T01:28:47Z")
This is one of the most insightful breakdowns of how Trump operates that I’ve ever read. Trump’s approach is something so new and different that those of us who live in reality can’t figure out how to effectively challenge it. Everyone is flailing around trying to explain or even comprehend what’s happening with no time to do so because it’s being pushed at us at a frightening speed. If we can’t come up with some plans to counter this soon, it may be too late. (The article is not paywalled but you may be asked to subscribe. It’s simple to just x out of those appeals.) > **[Weaponized Stupidity](https://www.closertotheedge.net/p/weaponized-stupidity)** > > How Nonsense Became a Strategy of Control ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/2 "2025-06-21T01:41:39Z")
This is good stuff. Reading this is like finally getting a diagnosis for that condition you’ve been suffering from. > **Weaponized stupidity works** because it breaks the social contract of communication. Most people speak to convey meaning. Trump speaks to obliterate it. The more incoherent he is, the more difficult it becomes to pin him down, rebut his statements, or even quote him accurately. He becomes impossible to refute — not because he’s right, but because he’s made **language itself an unreliable witness**. > > And it’s not just his supporters who fall for it. The press chases it. The opposition tries to decode it. Cable hosts waste entire segments “breaking it down” like it’s a riddle instead of what it actually is: **a bullshit tsunami designed to overwhelm your brain with raw sewage.** The more absurd the content, the more media oxygen it sucks up. If you say something smart, you get a headline. If you say something unhinged, you get the news cycle. Bold is in the original. The underlining is mine, and refers to what drives me the craziest, namely, _normalizing_ his speech and behavior. To treat him like a normal president. To look for legitimate content or consistency in anything he says. The only reasonable response to everything about trump is for everyone to stand and shout at the top of their lungs in unison: **THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES!** ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/3 "2025-06-21T01:43:26Z")
That was a great article and so mind numbingly true. I know I’m exhausted by it all and have been for some time. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/4 "2025-06-21T01:56:30Z")
Perfect and concise. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/5 "2025-06-21T03:25:23Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This is good stuff. Reading this is like finally getting a diagnosis for that condition you’ve been suffering from. I can’t think of a better phrase to describe Trump than “tsunami of bullshit.” I’ve been trying to figure out how to combat it for years and still haven’t come up with anything. I still can’t believe anyone can listen to Trump talk about anything and walk away thinking he’s honest to knowledgeable about anything. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/6 "2025-06-21T04:01:51Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The underlining is mine, and refers to what drives me the craziest, namely, _normalizing_ his speech and behavior. To treat him like a normal president. What drives me the craziest is “to treat him like a president” at all. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/7 "2025-06-21T18:54:02Z")
That may be where “respect the office, not the person” takes us. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/8 "2025-06-21T19:00:24Z")
I would believe this if Trump every stumbled onto something he says that might convince people he has an IQ of 80. He did not ‘Weaponize stupidity’ Stupid people weaponized him. And then people like Stephen Miller opened the barn door and let all these idiots run free. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/9 "2025-06-21T19:01:05Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I’ve been trying to figure out how to combat it for years and still haven’t come up with anything. You don’t combat it. You dismiss it. You treat it the same way you’d treat the rants of the mentally ill guy on the street corner who yells at everyone who walks by. The rhetoric is inconsequential. Once you know Trump said it, just know it’s crap. The content of the crap isn’t important. It’s like poking through the little undigested bits of a turd. It’s a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/10 "2025-06-21T19:02:33Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > The rhetoric is inconsequential. Once you know Trump said it, just know it’s crap. The content of the crap isn’t important. It’s like poking through the little undigested bits of a turd. It’s a waste of time. This, 100%. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/11 "2025-06-21T19:13:42Z")
I don’t know how anyone can bear to listen to him. There is something about his voice that drives me nuts. When a news program carries his voice, I have to mute it. It’s worse than chalk scratching on a blackboard. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/12 "2025-06-21T20:55:38Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > The rhetoric is inconsequential. Once you know Trump said it, just know it’s crap. The content of the crap isn’t important. It’s like poking through the little undigested bits of a turd. It’s a waste of time. Can also apply to Fox News. I once told a MAGA acquaintance, and not entirely joking about it, if I heard any “fact” from Trump or any pro-Trump political story on Fox News, my default assessment was that it wasn’t true. I told him it just saves time rather than wasting it fact checking them. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/13 "2025-06-21T21:25:06Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > You don’t combat it. You dismiss it. And how’s that working out for us? “That’s just Trump being Trump” led to 77 million people embracing fascism. The weaponization of stupidity is not just about Trump. Everyone around him has adopted the same tsunami of bullshit because they know it works. Watch any one of the congressional hearings and you will see them delight in it. Watch interviews with them. There is not a good faith effort in a single one of them. I don’t have any answers. Maybe there aren’t any and the situation is hopeless. I’d like to believe it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/14 "2025-06-21T21:30:34Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > You don’t combat it. You dismiss it. You treat it the same way you’d treat the rants of the mentally ill guy on the street corner who yells at everyone who walks by. While that seems to be effective when it comes to getting my MAGA mom to stop talking politics around me, I don’t know how useful this advice is when applied broadly. The truth doesn’t seem to work on MAGA, but I know they hate being treated as if they were children. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/15 "2025-06-21T21:42:32Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > And how’s that working out for us? “That’s just Trump being Trump” led to 77 million people embracing fascism. You’re talking about the result of normalizing Trump, which is the complete and total opposite of what I advocated for. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/16 "2025-06-21T22:48:23Z")
You advocated for ignoring his behavior and said that combating it is a waste of time. I’d argue that dismissing his behavior is in a way normalizing it. Not worth getting worked up about and shrugging it off can _look like_ you think it’s just normal behavior. Especially to people who already think that it is or are leaning in that direction. They see others dismissing his behavior and think it can’t be so bad then. As I said above, this is not just about Trump. This is about his entire administration. Sure, you can say that everything they say is crap and the content of the crap isn’t important so we should ignore it. But their actions are affecting our lives and letting them get away with their complete and utter stupid bullshit while doing untold damage to the world can only end very badly if we can’t find a way to combat it. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/17 "2025-06-21T23:09:05Z")
Honestly, I won’t claim that I’m immune from some form of “Ein volk! Ein Reich! Ein Fuerer!” But I’d fall in for something more like Alexander the Great on horseback, or She who Must be Obeyed (Ursula Andress, not Helen Gahagan). But some dumptruck butt clown like this? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/18 "2025-06-22T00:19:23Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > You advocated for ignoring his behavior No, his **rhetoric**. His arguments. Not his behavior. The man himself can’t be ignored, he’s the damned leader of the nation for some stupid reason. But his rhetoric is nonsense and it’s designed to distract and confuse. It’s a Gish gallop. You don’t counter that by addressing the lies and contradictions. That’s a trap. You address the man. He’s dangerous and unhinged. He should be treated as if he’s that delusional sidewalk yeller that somehow got put in charge. Address the issues, his failures, how he’s violating the law and killing the economy. And point out that he is incompetent and needs to be resisted. I’d love for No Kings to take off like the Tea Party once did, and bring in a new generation of lawmakers to resist his insanity and start turning the country around to resembling a functional democracy again. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/19 "2025-06-22T03:26:27Z")
Well yeah; what was it that Carlin said? # “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” That’s a huge part of what’s going on here. A huge proportion of the population don’t have the sense to realize what a bullshit artist he is, and think he’s awesome because he’s speaking “truth to power” or some other glib and idiotic phrase, all the while lapping up the nonsensical bullshit he’s spewing because they assume he knows what he’s talking about. Meanwhile he’s doing exactly what the OP says he is; flooding the zone with bullshit, to mix my sports and political metaphors, in order to overwhelm and confuse his opposition. And his supporters eat it up, because they’re assuming all this has a plan and that they’re on board with it. What needs to happen is that one of these ridiculous attempts to do something needs to fail so egregiously and with such effect that his supporters can’t just hand-wave it away, and his leopards eat _so_ many faces that it can’t be ignored. Right now plenty of people who voted for him are being attacked by the face-eating leopards, but they’re often Hispanic or in some group that’s not mainstream, so they can be disregarded. > [@Atamasama](#): > > I’d love for No Kings to take off like the Tea Party once did, and bring in a new generation of lawmakers to resist his insanity and start turning the country around to resembling a functional democracy again. That’s not going to happen, because the title is too stupid. The issue here isn’t that he’s trying to set himself up as a king, it’s that he and his are disregarding the rule of law and disrespecting the judiciary and the (entirely legal and reasonable) attempts to check him. “No Kings” is just too glib to actually work with people who aren’t _ **already** _ anti-Trump. And the silly posters and signs don’t help, nor do all the tie-dyed hippies at the protests. To be truly effective, we need buttoned-down people in Omaha and Birmingham protesting, not big-city liberals. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923/20 "2025-06-22T03:38:47Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That’s not going to happen, because the title is too stupid. It’s no more stupid than “Tea Party”. But you’re probably not wrong. I’d love for it to take off in some form, maybe with a rebrand. People are legitimately and justifiably horrified. These are my hopes, not my expectations. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-weaponized-stupidity/1019923.md?page=2)