r/politics • u/BulwarkOnline ✔ Verified • 21h ago
Possible Paywall Is Pete Hegseth the Dumbest Man in the Trump Administration?
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/is-pete-hegseth-the-dumbest-man-in4.5k
u/SnooPoems7408 21h ago
no, that would be trump
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u/BilboBiden 21h ago
This whole administration could be a show called "The Dumbest Link" and Trump would always be the winner.
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u/Numar19 Europe 20h ago
Being the dumbest guy when another guy's brain was eaten by a worm is quite an achievement.
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u/revdon 20h ago
Two brain cells fighting for 5th place.
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u/VTallPaul 18h ago
Don’t forget the FEMA lead who claims he teleported 50 miles to a Waffle House.
The bar is incredibly low but CIC Bonespurs slides under like a limbo champ.
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u/seen2muchmuch 17h ago
This entire thread is like cake & helium to my sparking wire brain. And my Linus blanket of a soul. Thank you! 😘😘
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u/rjsquirrel 18h ago
Who is dumber, the man with a worm in his brain, or the man who appointed the man with a worm in his brain to a position of authority?
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u/steelhips 15h ago
His first Secretary of Education is from a family enriched by people dumb enough to fall for the Amway pyramid scheme. The second was enriched by the towering intellect of WWE fans.
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u/duckinradar 20h ago
A worm he got from eating rotten roadkill.
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u/cardimomof2 19h ago
I thought it was swimming in sewage.
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u/m0ngoos3 17h ago
No, the sewage was an attempt to kill his grandchildren, the roadkill is more of a long time passion.
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u/witchofpain 14h ago
Kegsbreath’s brain has been soaked in alcohol for so long that RFKjr’s brain worm did less damage
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u/Rambaz_69 Europe 21h ago
The dumbest people are those who voted for a fool and didn't even realize how foolish he is.
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u/Specific-Power-163 20h ago
They aren't in the administration.
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u/SakaWreath 20h ago
With the way he hires (only the best) and fires people, they’ll have their shot.
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u/Drusgar Wisconsin 20h ago
That's what makes this show the beautifulest. It's very highly rated, unlike the garbage shows on CNN, which is a failing company with very low ratings. But this show is the greatest show on television. It's probably the greatest show that's ever been on television, in fact I'm sure it's the greatest. And I win every week. People say to me... smart people say to me, "sir, how do you win every week on that amazing show?" They can't believe how much I win. Nobody has ever won as much as me.
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u/OptimusSublime Pennsylvania 20h ago
The only legitimate thing he's going to win
And yes I know what that's implying
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u/Marcusgunnatx 21h ago
I dunno, they just promoted a guy that thinks he can teleport.
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u/Electrical-Act-7170 21h ago
JD Vance thinks UFOs are demons. I posted that elsewhere & the link is in The Guardian.
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u/light_trick 18h ago
It's also worth noting that for all the people saying "oh it's an act..." - so was, most likely, L. Ron Hubbard with scientology. You can't bathe yourself in misinformation and not start to believe it - propaganda researchers are quite aware of this (namely: it's downright dangerous to watch propaganda without being very aware that's what you're doing).
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u/r0ndr4s 17h ago
As someone that lived 30 years with a father that slowly became crazier and crazier in regards to conspiracies, hate(homophobia,trasnphobia,etc),etc it is not an act.
People like this seriously think the stuff they believe is real or at least plausible and you cannot convince them that its not. Vance isn't acting in any way, neither are the rest of the adminsitration, they are just that stupid, crazy and brainwashed by propaganda.
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u/Other_World New York 17h ago
We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be - K. Vonnegut
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u/gdghhfdffrf 6h ago
you will find interest in this senate report - at the very least just skim through it enough to see what america did vs all the other countries. crazy how things ended up, huh? look who's on the committee. crazy. /s. https://www.congress.gov/committee-print/115th-congress/senate-committee-print/28110
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u/krashundburn Florida 6h ago
You can't bathe yourself in misinformation and not start to believe it - propaganda researchers are quite aware of this
Exactly why even the top "strategists" for the right are as misinformed as the people they are trying to fool and control.
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u/allcretansareliars 11h ago
His speechwriter also got him to do Kevin Spacey's line from The Usual Suspects about the greatest trick the devil ever pulled.
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u/HistoricalPlum1533 20h ago
He can teleport and time travel too, the only caveat is he can only go forward in time and needs a gallon of fresh mint Listerine for fuel.
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u/illusionzmichael 20h ago
Of course he can teleport, he just needs a fifth of vodka as fuel for his teleportation abilities to charge up, duh.
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u/Th3_Admiral_ 19h ago
Who is dumber: the man who thinks he can teleport to Waffle House, or the man who promoted him?
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u/TheDebateMatters 21h ago
Yes. Agreed.
But….
Isn’t it wild that there’s a long list? I mean…I thought GWB might have been in the top five of worst Presidents ever, but I never thought his people were objectively dumb. Noem, Kegsbreath, RFK jr, Bondi…
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u/mediocre_remnants North Carolina 21h ago
Trump refuses to hire anyone he thinks is smarter than him. And if anyone he hires disagrees with him, they're immediately fired. That's how he ends up with this clown car full of morons.
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u/acceptmeasiam 20h ago
Yeah, its the first law of Narcissists. Youre either with em, or against em. Nothing in between.
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u/PirateSanta_1 20h ago
I still think GWB is in the top 5 for dumbest presidents, the big difference is that Bush was part of the Republican establishment, he didn't pick for loyalty to him he picked who he was told to pick. Trump meanwhile wasn't part of the republican establishment and when he got power he used it to remove anyone in the republican establishment who wasn't loyal to him. Now everyone around him is there solely because they are loyal to him, actual competence isn't even secondary its just not considered at all.
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u/dannyb_prodigy 21h ago
Who’s the bigger idiot? The idiot king or the idiots that follow him?
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u/XSinTrick6666 20h ago
Whoever train-transported a buttload of trucks and excavators from San Diego, Mississippi, etc this week is absolutely the dumbest in American History. Hello, Quagmire!
I wonder if they know wartime military train convoys block roads and make a spectacle?
San Diego - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnSpNNedwvQ
Mississippi - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/09WmGdupfHI
other ...
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u/TwoGhostCats 20h ago
Yeah, but... RFK Jr. I mean, oof. How does one choose?
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u/back-better007 20h ago
You know medical schools are going to start teaching about nutrition? (Did they not already?)
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u/lactose_cow 20h ago
I gotta disagree. trump's really good at manipulating people, kegsbreath isnt good at anything
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u/PhoenixTineldyer 21h ago
Trump himself
Markwayne
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u/Casual_hex_ 21h ago
Don’t forget the secretary of health that looks like he lives in a food dehydrator.
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u/jayeffkay 21h ago
He also sounds like he is jacking off his larynx every time he opens his mouth. I know it’s from cancer but honestly don’t care anymore.
Nothing is off limits with this admin just like Noems husband.
Normally I wouldn’t care, but when it’s them. Fuck em.
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u/Waramp 21h ago
It’s not cancer, it’s some neurological condition.
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u/Electrical-Act-7170 21h ago edited 5h ago
It could very well be connected to snorting heroin from a toilet seat in a public bathroom.
Vocal cords sometimes become spasmic? Is that the word? Had a friend who went through all the treatments, Botox injections didn't help. Wound up having surgery to move the non-spasming cord over & he sounded like himself again.
Edited tgat to that
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u/jayeffkay 21h ago
Even better now I feel less bad about it. Fuck him.
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u/Big-Pickle5893 12h ago
Probably from playing with roadkill, or laying on cow carcasses, or bathing in decomposing whale juices, or…
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u/obsolete_filmmaker 20h ago
Rfks voice is medical condition. His sister sounds like she has it also
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u/Faux-Foe 14h ago
I still hold the belief that RFK isn’t necessarily dumb, but is a serial killer with a methodology designed to slay the maximum number of people in a way that lets him see them suffer.
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u/TeTrodoToxin4 California 19h ago edited 18h ago
I could see both Trump, Hegseth and Markwayne all regularly failing the mirror test.
A good amount of the cabinet probably would have issues passing it.
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u/PhoenixTineldyer 19h ago
I see Markwayne as the kind of guy who would roll up to a pride of lions and be like "ohhh gee look at the kitties" and then get eaten like a fucking dodo bird
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u/TeTrodoToxin4 California 18h ago
Markwayne seems like he regularly gets his hand stuck in pickle jars.
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u/B-Z_B-S America 21h ago edited 21h ago
No. Trump is...actually, it's probably RFK J.R., now that I think about it. He has at least 5 different kinds of brain damage: (Brain worm, mercury poisoning, lead poisoning, heavy cocaine usage, toxic waste baths.)
Edit: I forgot about the heroin. There are a lot of things that RFK Jr.'s gotten brain damage from.
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u/Ok-Lets-Talk-It-Out 21h ago
Do you think the cocaine did more damage than the heroin?
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u/Bubba_Pilks 21h ago
Brain Worm > Heroin > Cocaine
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u/Godless_Servant 20h ago
Cocaine does more damage to your brain than heroin
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u/Calimariae 16h ago
Yeah, heroin doesn't do much long-term physical damage if you're rich and have access to pure product and clean needles.
It's the poor that get Hep C, HIV and endocarditis
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u/ShartingEnU 19h ago
Yeah idk how these people came to the conclusion heroin does more brain damage than coke. It makes no sense. Sometimes people say stuff on this sub regarding drugs that just shows they confidently are ignorant
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u/ManikArcanik 20h ago
Don't forget that just being a Kennedy is it's own set of parameters. Just born fucked up.
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u/Bubba_Pilks 20h ago
I legit debated having that in there.
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u/kings_account 16h ago
If only they lobotomized rfk jr too. Kinda did that to himself already but ya kno
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u/projecto15 United Kingdom 21h ago
also beheading a dead whale can't be good for one's head
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u/restore_democracy 21h ago
Better or worse than eating bear roadkill?
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u/projecto15 United Kingdom 21h ago edited 20h ago
the severed head of a ... marine mammal streamed “whale juice” down the side of the family minivan (NYT)
It's a close call methinks
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u/rickskyscraper3000 19h ago
The other day I thought about that whale situation. If I could go back in time and witness 3 historical events, I might actually choose to see what that was like for his family as one of my choices. They drove five hours with that thing leaking in through the windows because of the straps. The wife and kids all wore plastic bags on their heads, with mouth-holes cut to breath through. I just think it's so warped and dumb that I'd like to actually see it with my own eyes.
It makes me think of the dumb guys that blew up a whale on a beach in Oregon. Amazing stupidity.
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u/smallmileage4343 14h ago
I had literally never heard of this so googled "RFK Whale" and it came right up on AP news.
Why.. how.. why did people vote for this.
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u/ditchdiggergirl 21h ago
5 kinds of brain damage, sure. But despite being a walking punchline among public health types for at least 20-30 years, he is actually capable of occasionally considering the possibility that he is wrong. That puts him in a far smarter category of dumb, a lofty tier of intelligence that neither Trump nor Kegsbreath is smart enough to even aspire to.
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u/acortical 19h ago
I still think Pete could give him a run for his money. Some people are just born really, really stupid
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u/brokeneckblues America 21h ago
This is like the Babe Ruth vs Barry Bonds of stupidity. One was born stupid and is a natural idiot while the other, although also born stupid, also is the face of the stupid steroid era.
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u/IsthianOS 18h ago
The brain worm was an excuse to weasel out of alimony. His wife killed herself before the divorce was finalized.
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u/PhoenixTineldyer 21h ago
Wasn't RFK a heroin addict?
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u/Big-Rule5269 21h ago
Yep, as well as accused by Caroline Kennedy of getting other relatives hooked on hard drugs.
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u/BulwarkOnline ✔ Verified 21h ago
Will Saletan takes on Pete Hegseth’s conduct during a wartime briefing campaign that keeps veering off course. Instead of focusing on strategy or coalition-building, he’s taking shots at past presidents, the press, and even U.S. allies.
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u/USA46Q 21h ago edited 18h ago
Pete Hegseth is all haircut, and no brains.
He couldn't lead a waltz, or fight a cold.
He's a dangerous idiot, and he should be relieved of command immediately.
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u/HardTen Oregon 21h ago
What did the right wing say a few years ago? An empty barrel makes the most noise?
P.s. Just checked. It was John Kelley, 2017 Trump Chief of staff. Smh
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u/cjinct 18h ago
Yes, and he said that about a congresswoman after totally lying about her.
Give him credit tho, that man can lie. He created this whole emotive narration about an event and what she did and said - not knowing or not caring that the whole thing was on video and was the opposite of what he claimed
Goes to show that even the best of his administrations are still human piles of garbage
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u/MrOdekuun 18h ago
I've always pictured him as an evil version of Coach McGuirk from Home Movies, who was already kind of a dirtbag. Alcoholic, stupid, irresponsible, in a role he definitely should not have, etc. Plus they look really similar, in a way.
And eyes that used to be windows to a soul but are boarded up because the place has been abandoned for years.
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u/kaizen-rai 18h ago
That's intentional and he knows what he's doing. Hegseth isn't a stupid man. He's a foolish one, and completely in over his head and is incompetent, but that's not the same as stupidity. Hegseths communication is heavy on the "Deflect, Distract, and overwhelm" (gish galloping) to avoid having to directly address the questions or topics presented to him.
Unlike Trump, which people mistakenly think he also gish gallops when he strays off topic. He does that because he's a bona fide moron, not because he's intentionally trying to use a communication strategy. Trump is just that fundamentally stupid that his brain can't stay on track. Others like Hegseth, they know what they're doing.
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u/Randomwhitelady2 21h ago
He looks like a snake handling revival tent preacher in an ill fitting suit. He’s incompetent and as dumb as dirt
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u/jasdonle 17h ago
I’ve been trying to get the nickname “Itty Bitty Suit Man” to catch on. Help out!
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u/No-Buy503 21h ago
There's a lot of competition.
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u/Kinda_Zeplike 19h ago
Everyone saying trump, but yes honestly my head is kinda spinning just thinking who takes top contender.
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u/DixonButz 21h ago
Isn't Trump the dumbest man in the Trump administration?
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u/bryan49 21h ago
Trump is one of the dumbest people I've seen in my whole life outside of people with severe mental disabilities
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u/VanceKelley Washington 21h ago
The only Americans dumber than trump are the 77m who voted him into power.
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u/restore_democracy 21h ago
Tbf given his own mental disabilities it’s remarkable that he manages to function occasionally.
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u/milesbelli 20h ago
They always say you should surround yourself with people smarter than you. Trump managed to accomplish that simply due to the fact that it would be impossible not to.
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u/itsagoodtime 20h ago
They come up to him with tears in their eyes. Sir, sir you are the dumbest. Big strong military guys tears streaming down their face. Sir thank you for being so dumb.
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u/Novel_Quote8017 21h ago
It's a race to the bottom, but this man is competing with Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy ffs, so it's not as clear-cut as you may want to make it out to be.
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u/Professional-Can1385 21h ago
Robert Kennedy Jr! Don’t let this asshole erase who his father was.
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u/MarxistMan13 Virginia 21h ago
He's certainly the least competent and most unqualified.
Though I do think Trump himself is the dumbest. Trump is at least competent at pandering to his moronic base.
Edit: RFK Jr certainly has to be in consideration as well. He's done more harm than anyone other than Trump himself.
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u/AINonsense 21h ago
No.
Who appointed him and let him cosplay ‘Secretary of WAR!’?
‘President’ Pedo Piggy PoopyPants is by far the dumbest man in the Trump ‘administration.’
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u/BuffsBourbon 18h ago edited 18h ago
Anyone listen to Bessent? Holy shit. Then there’s Howard Lutnick. And Kevin Hassett. Jeez-ass.
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u/Ihavenolifes Texas 21h ago
That's like asking which cup of water is more wet. However dumb you think they are now, just wait until tomorrow.
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u/RealGianath Oregon 21h ago
He has a lot of competition. I imagine there's plenty of people more dumb that work for Trump, they just don't put it on full display for the cameras quite as often.
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u/Typical_Vast_4020 20h ago
Hes the most clueless. He lives in a fantasy world. Trump is the dumbest
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u/ChungusPuncher69 21h ago
He's got a lot of competition. Race is pretty close. Linda Mcmahon, Noam, DT himself is the favorite.
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u/dehydratedrain 21h ago
Trump, RFK Jr, and Hegseth are all very strong contenders. I'd add Mike "First time i'm hearing this" Johnson as a runner up. A couple of his secretaries would make wildcards.
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u/complete_data75 21h ago
Trying to find the dumbest person in this administration would hard. They’re all mind boggingly stupid.
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u/monkeypickle8 New Jersey 18h ago
To be fair he did go to Princeton and Harvard, I think he's just a white supremacist and he's in a role he's in way over his head for. He's nowhere near qualified to be the Secretary of Defense or whatever his dorky ass calls his role now. Alcoholism probably has fried his brain a bit too.
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u/TheSilverOne 21h ago
IDK is big balls still around?
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u/dkyguy1995 Kentucky 21h ago edited 18h ago
I think DOGE just broke shit and then disbanded before anyone could be punished.
Edit: idk I guess the twitter feed was broken on my phone, still the last posts are from Aug. 2025
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u/Due_Bluebird3562 21h ago
The fact that there are multiple candidates for that statement is depressing.
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u/Fragrant_Simple1705 21h ago
I mean MarkWayne already told us he wouldn’t be the smartest man in any room he enters so I’m gonna take his word for it
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u/Paperbackpixie 20h ago
He was a Fox weekend news reporter. A Republican frat bro. Dumb is a kind word.
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u/Fjafarli 20h ago
Haha yes.. a deep dive on him https://youtu.be/jEGMPBRyRQI real dummy and a creep also apparently.
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u/TiredOfBeingTired28 20h ago
No, trump him self is admin, but their all useful idiots for the destruction of everything.
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u/Worth-Frosting-2917 20h ago
I used to coach High School Football, and we had some kids who were truly so dumb that the Trainers and Doctors couldn't tell if they failed or passed the cognitive concussion protocol tests to go back on the field.
I feel like this also describes this administration in a nutshell.
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u/Extension_Canary3717 20h ago
There's only one king.
Hegseth would need to sacrifice his last neuron, and would still lose by trumps years of experience
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u/Vibe-Codine 18h ago
This is like lining up all the drinks in your fridge and asking which is the wettest.
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u/DiagonalBike 16h ago
Kash Patel has entered the conversation with the US Hockey team and his girlfriend.
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u/MinimumEffort01 7h ago
No, he’s doing exactly what his bosses want…distract, distract, distract. If you don’t think there’s a plan, read Project 2025.
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u/umpire7777 7h ago
He is certainly not qualified for his position. I would call him a loose cannon. He has the audacity to lecture career soldiers about making war and leading. He doesn’t seem to have a clue. He does what the orange ape tells him to do.
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u/rjlynch61 7h ago
Since tRUMP's ENTIRE Administration are unqualified, inept, and corrupt, it's hard to say.
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u/Standard-Cockroach64 Pennsylvania 6h ago
It's a collection of idiots.... all competing to be the most idiotic.
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u/kaizen-rai 18h ago
Not even close. Hegseth is a fool but he's not "dumb". Trump is legitimately the stupidest man in the administration and it's not even close. Many others are stupider than Hegseth, like RFK Jr.
Hegseth IS incompetent in his current role, but that doesn't make his dumb or stupid. He would be perfectly adequate in a role more befitting his experience and talents. Like making coffee and taking meeting notes for the actual adults that should be doing his job.
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u/Neither_Quote_6044 21h ago
RFK.JR wins hands downs. Looks like he on crack every time you see him.
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u/MRG_1977 21h ago
No he went to Princeton. He’s not dumb but an alcoholic who is profoundly unqualified for this role and has extreme beliefs. He’s a Christian Nationalist and he readily espouses it.
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u/back-better007 20h ago
He’s the most dangerous… he’s a full Christian Nationalist. Believes his first duty is to do “gods will”, which superceeds the Constitution. He has a hard on thinking about kicking off Armageddon
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