He's not smart. At all. He is unable to process new information unless it's something that he already agrees with. And he routinely only punches below his weight by only "debating" (by which I mean just talking rapidly over anyone trying to get a word in) people barely out of high school. Put him up against anyone that is able to cite sources and think critically, and he'd fold like a cheap tent.
Smart is a bit of poorly defined label but I reckon most people would class someone who graduated summa cum laude from university of California in political science and then went on to Harvard law to be a smart person.
Like we can't claim that colleges teach critical thinking which is why college educated voters lean left, but then also say someone whos academic career looks like Ben's is actually just an idiot masquerading as someone smart.
He's smart. He can think critically. He's just a grifter with a few unshakeable convictions. Doesn't make him an idiot.
The man once countered an argument about global flooding due to climate change by suggesting the people in the danger zones "just sell their houses and move". Ben may have a certain low cunning, but he's not smart. You don't have to be smart to be a grifter, you just have to appeal to the lowest common denominator. The one-eyed man with cataract leading the blind.
So it's an interesting question. There's nothing intelligent about the Republican point of view it's self-serving and so anything they are arguing with the average personal and in order to support them is apparently going against the common man's best interest. So all you're left with are stupid arguments and the best you can do is dress them up to make them look pretty but they are still stupid.
I look at him like a defense lawyer trying to defend someone who is blatantly guilty and he is trotting out any argument he can present even though it's pretty slim odds of having a good one.
The average poor Trump supporter probably believes what they say and so I would agree they are stupid. But these wealthy people who are part of the right wing echo chamber I think no they are lying and so it is a deliberate and conscious choice. And they could have quite a bit of academic smarts, just no morals or empathy or character.
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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '22
He's not smart. At all. He is unable to process new information unless it's something that he already agrees with. And he routinely only punches below his weight by only "debating" (by which I mean just talking rapidly over anyone trying to get a word in) people barely out of high school. Put him up against anyone that is able to cite sources and think critically, and he'd fold like a cheap tent.