14 Times Donald Trump Called Out Others For Their 'Low IQ'

The transformation of President Donald Trump is a stunning one in every sense of the word. Until Trump infiltrated the world of politics, it seemed unlikely that a reality television businessman had what it took to be the face of the United States. Although Trump has won two presidential elections, he is arguably one of the most polarizing presidents in U.S. history. There are a million and one reasons why, although a big one is the way Trump conducts himself professionally. 

Between all the controversies attached to his name and some seriously wild State of the Union moments, there's one thing that MAGA and non-MAGA supporters can agree with: when Trump has something to say, he's not going to try to mince any words. This is especially true when it comes to talking about cognitive abilities, a subject that he frequently brings up to both build himself up and tear others down. As Trump said in a post on X in May 2013, "Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest, and you all know it! Please don't feel so stupid or insecure, it's not your fault." Here are just a few of the instances where he has suggested his "haters" are "low IQ."

Once upon a time, Donald Trump's group of allies included political commentators Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Candace Owens, as well as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. When these far-right Republicans were still on the ins with Trump, they seemed eager to defend him, in whatever capacity, no matter the issue. In a move that surprised many, all four then-supporters changed their tune about Trump in late 2025 and early 2026. 

Carlson, Kelly, Owens, and Jones all denounced Trump for similar reasons. To make a long story short, they disagreed with Trump's military involvement in Iran, his controversial religious social media content, and his arguably flawed "America First" agenda. When Carlson implied that Trump was interested in nuclear war against Iran in April 2026, Trump went, well, nuclear. 

While Trump simply described Carlson as a "low IQ person" to The New York Post in 2026, he unleashed a monumental 500-word rant about Carlson, Kelly, Owens, and Jones on Truth Social. "They have one thing in common, Low IQs. They're stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too! Look at their past, look at their record. They don't have what it takes, and they never did!" Trump wrote in part. 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known colloquially by AOC, has had her metaphorical foot on Donald Trump's neck since she joined the House of Representatives in 2019. Although it's been claimed that Ocasio-Cortez and Trump share a weird connection, these two politicians really couldn't be any more different, although they do know how to command their respective crowds. 

After he took the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Trump made a dig at Ocasio-Cortez while speaking to reporters on Air Force One. "AOC is low IQ. If you give her an IQ test, have her pass like the exams that I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed," Trump said (via X). "Let AOC go against Trump."

Ocasio-Cortez, who is known for being quick-witted in her responses to Trump's remarks, wasted no time in responding to the aforementioned comments about her intelligence. "Hello Mr. President! Out of curiosity, did those doctors ask you to draw a clock by any chance? Was that part hard for you, too? Asking for 340 million people," she wrote on X within hours. (Drawing a clock is a standard dementia test.)

Maxine Waters has seen a lot of politicians come and go, considering she's been a member of the House of Representatives since 1991. Speaking at a rally in June 2018, Waters called for Trump's impeachment — he was eventually impeached for the first time in December 2019 — and commented on then-press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders' banishment from an anti-MAGA restaurant. "If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd, and you push back on them," Waters said (via YouTube).

A few days later, Trump wrote on X, "Congresswoman Maxine Waters, an extraordinarily low IQ person, has become, together with Nancy Pelosi, the Face of the Democrat Party. ... Be careful what you wish for, Max!" Trump made similar comments about Waters' intelligence months prior at a rally, as reported by News 8 Now. "Did you ever see her? Did you ever see her?" Trump asked the crowd. "She's a low IQ individual. You can't help it."

U.S. representative Jasmine Crockett is another Democratic politician who staunchly opposes Donald Trump and has remained vocal since she joined Congress in 2023. Trump has had a lot to say about Crockett, although the "low IQ" insults didn't arise in earnest until 2025. That year, Trump insulted Crockett's intellect at least three times. "Let me tell you before you even ask. [Crockett's] a very low IQ person. I mean, if we ever had to pass an aptitude test, that's the one [who] should take one," Trump told reporters that September (via Fox News).

Trump made similar documented comments in October (with the previously mentioned Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez comments) and November, although there's a solid chance the president has said much more behind closed doors. After Trump's dig in October, Crockett responded with a good bit of shade during an interview with CNN's Kaitlin Collins. "What is his IQ? He doesn't even know what a low IQ is. ... Listen, he's never been known to be an [Albert] Einstein," Crockett fired back. 

Marjorie Taylor Greene, another one of Jasmine Crockett's other prominent nemeses, resigned from the House of Representatives in late 2025, which went into effect in January 2026. While she was in office, Greene was one of Trump's closest allies — so much so that Trump reportedly considered making her his vice presidential pick for the 2024 election. Greene's opinion of Trump publicly soured throughout 2025, however, over the Epstein files and foreign policy. In December 2025, she went on "60 Minutes" to address her political pivot.

Unsurprisingly, Trump promptly took to Truth Social to address Greene's interview. "My real problem with the show, however, wasn't the low IQ traitor, it was that the new ownership of 60 Minutes, Paramount, would allow a show like this to air," Trump wrote. He also called her "Marjorie 'Traitor' Brown" and clarified that "Green turns Brown under stress."

Now that Greene holds no official political power, she has taken every chance to lambast Trump and the MAGA crowd online, especially during on-camera interviews. During a March 2026 appearance on "The Megyn Kelly Show," for instance, Greene told Megyn Kelly (via Instagram), "It is absolutely America last. It's the same b******t we've seen. What is happening to the man I supported?"

The 2020 presidential election saw Donald Trump and Joe Biden battle it out like no pair of septuagenarians ever has before. Although Trump wished Biden well after he was diagnosed with cancer, many of Trump's craziest out-of-pocket outbursts have included Biden in some way, shape, or form. As just one example — and there are a lot to choose from — Trump told Fox News in 2020, "Let Biden sit through an interview like this, he'll be on the ground crying for mommy."

Once Biden became the Democratic presidential nominee against Trump, Trump seemingly took every single opportunity possible to allege that his opponent was not cut out for the role, to put it mildly. During the election (and beyond), Trump almost always referred to Biden by one of the following nicknames: "Slow Joe," "Sleepy Joe," or "Crooked Joe." 

Looking for a specific Trump quote talking about Biden's supposed IQ? There are several to choose from. "Joe Biden got tongue tied over the weekend ... Get used to it, another low I.Q. individual!" Trump wrote on X in 2019. "I will have lost to a low-IQ individual [if Biden won]. I don't want that," Trump told a crowd the following year, as reported by The Times of Israel. "The guy doesn't know he's alive."

Liz Cheney, the daughter of late Vice President Dick Cheney, was a member of the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023. After the January 6th Capitol attack in 2021, Liz was elected to serve on the congressional committee. Naturally, Liz immediately became one of Trump's targets — and being a Republican only fueled the fire, since Liz refused to side with the rest of the MAGA-infused political party. 

Trump has thrown Liz Cheney's IQ into question many times since the Capitol attack, especially after Liz endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election. In October 2024, after Liz was removed from the Wyoming Republican Party, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "The people of Wyoming are really smart! She is a low IQ War Hawk." In January 2025, after Joe Biden awarded Liz the Presidential Citizens Medal, Trump wrote a similar Truth Social post. "Biden rewarded her only because she hated "TRUMP." She's a Warmonger of low intelligence." He added, "January 20th [inauguration Day] cannot come fast enough."

When Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential election, then-Vice President Kamala Harris took over as the Democratic nominee. Trump had a lot to say about Harris during Biden's presidency, but his Rolodex of insults went haywire once she became his direct competition. In August 2024, for instance, Trump took to Truth Social (via The Mirror) to declare, "Does anyone notice that Kamala Harris doesn't do Interviews? That's because she's really DUMB! She's unable to speak properly without a Teleprompter. She has an extremely Low IQ, and our Country does not need someone who is unable to put two sentences together."

At this point, Trump has criticized Harris' intelligence so many times that it would take quite a while to get through all the examples. Here are two more, though: in October 2024, Trump said during a North Carolina rally (via YouTube), "Low IQ. She's a low IQ individual." In April 2026, during an Easter celebration, Trump reiterated that Harris was a "low IQ person" and asked (via Facebook), "Who's a lower IQ person, Biden or Kamala?" 

Robert De Niro and Donald Trump's feud has raged on since Trump won the 2016 presidential election, although they've actually been foes since at least 2011: at that year's Cannes Film Festival, De Niro passive-aggressively criticized Trump for questioning President Barack Obama's citizenship. Since then, and especially since Trump first entered the world of politics, De Niro has taken as many opportunities as possible to call Trump out. 

De Niro seized another opportunity in June 2018, when he was chosen to introduce a segment during the 72nd Tony Awards. When De Niro got up on stage, he stated, "I'm just going to say one thing. F**k Trump. It's no longer 'down with Trump.' It's 'f**k Trump.'"

While De Niro got a standing ovation from the crowd, it took virtually no time for Trump to fire back. In a now-deleted tweet (via ABC News), Trump wrote, "Robert De Niro, a very Low IQ individual, has received to [sic] many shots to the head by real boxers in movies ... Wake up Punchy!"

The long history of Donald Trump being jealous of former president Barack Obama is a complicated one, so let's just summarize things and say that while they've had cordial moments, they're certainly not friends. Obama has lived rent-free in Trump's mind, especially online, for well over a decade. Ironically, Trump wrote on X in 2011, "In order to get elected, @BarackObama will start a war with Iran."

Obama did not start a war with Iran while president, although that small fact hasn't stopped Trump from taking swipes at the former leader's intellect. In March 2026, Trump called Obama's cognitive abilities into question, though he didn't use the exact phrase "low IQ." During a cabinet meeting, Trump told reporters (via theGrio), "I'll tell you about President Obama. He wasn't a smart man [either]. I know all about him. He wasn't a smart man, highly overrated."

Donald Trump graced the covers of magazines long before he ever ran for office. As of 2026, Trump has appeared on the cover of Time magazine more than 40 times; he was named "Person of the Year" in 2016 and 2024. And yet, in 2017, The Washington Post revealed that Trump's golf clubs were decorated with a fake Time cover. "There was no cover of TIME on March 1, 2009, and Trump has only been on one cover of TIME (Jan. 16, 1989) prior to running for president," Time wrote in response to The Washington Post's report. 

Enter talk show host Mika Brzezinski, who made fun of Trump's faux pas on an episode of "Morning Joe." During the segment (via YouTube), Brzezinski, who sat next to co-host/husband Joe Scarborough, said, "Nothing makes a man feel better than making a fake cover of a magazine about himself, lying every day, and destroying the country." She also took a dig at the size of Trump's hands.

Trump came for Brzezinski and Scarborough in two parts on X soon after, although Brzezinski received the brunt of his rant, which included digs at her intelligence and physical appearance. "How come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!" Trump posted in full on X. 

Donald Trump's stance on immigration has been a controversial one since his first presidential campaign, and many of his remarks about people born outside of the United States have been deemed xenophobic. Throughout his presidency, he has openly targeted Somali immigrants living in Minnesota, regularly pushing for mass deportation. His fixation on Minnesota seemed to only escalate after Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is Somali American, won the Minnesota House seat in 2018.

During a cabinet meeting in March 2026, Trump unleashed one of many offensive rants about Somali people. "They come to our country, low IQs, and they rob us blind," Trump told the room full of reporters (via Audacy). "Stupid people, and they rob us blind because we have crooked politicians and we have dirty cops. The Attorney General's [Keith Ellison] a dirty cop."

Trump's comments were immediately met with backlash. Ellison wrote in part on X, "Trump's racist tirades can't distract from the fact that his reckless and deeply unpopular war is driving up inflation, raising gas prices, and making life unaffordable for Minnesotans." Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of CAIR-MN (the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Minnesota) said, "Calling an entire people 'low IQ' and 'stupid' is not just political rhetoric. It is dehumanization."

Gavin Newsom, who once married Kimberly Guilfoyle in a wildly lavish event, served as the mayor of San Francisco before he was elected governor of California in 2019. Newsom has been fairly transparent about his personal life over the years and has spoken at length about having dyslexia, a learning disorder that affects reading, writing, and spelling. 

While it's been proven that dyslexia is not related to intelligence, that didn't stop Donald Trump from using the disability as an arsenal. Per USA Today, Trump told reporters in March 2026 that he believes Newsom is a "low-IQ person." The president said, "Honestly, I am all for people with learning disabilities, but not for my president. I don't think a president should have a learning disability."

"To every kid with a learning disability: don't let anyone—not even the President of the United States—bully you," Newsom responded on X. "Dyslexia isn't a weakness. It's your strength." In response to another mention of his disorder by Trump, however, Newsom took a bolder X approach: "I spoke about my dyslexia. I know that's hard for a brain-dead moron who bombs children and protects pedophiles to understand."

Rick Perry, who was the governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015, served as Donald Trump's secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019. Before Perry served under Trump's administration — and got tangled up in Trump's first impeachment — he actually ran for office during the 2016 presidential election. Perry had a lot to say about Trump while they were adversaries. In July 2015, as one shining example, Perry delivered a scathing remark (via ABC News): "Let no one be mistaken Donald Trump's candidacy is a cancer on conservatism and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised, and discarded." He also called the campaign "a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness, and nonsense."

In typical Trump fashion, the president insulted Perry directly, rather than his political campaign or stances. In response to Perry's comments, Trump wrote on X, "[Perry] doesn't understand what the word demagoguery means." Trump followed that up with another X post: "He should be forced to take an IQ test before being allowed to enter the GOP debate."