Trump's Racist "Low IQ" Insult Targets Stephen A. Smith After Knicks Loss
“You need a high IQ,” President Donald Trump declared, dismissing ESPN host Stephen A. Smith as unfit for the presidency. This comment came after Smith criticized Trump for the New York Knicks’ loss in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
Smith fired back, challenging Trump’s intelligence. “I could put my IQ against yours,” he stated, questioning why Trump has avoided a debate with him for a year. The confrontation unfolded as Trump prepared to board Air Force One.
Trump’s remarks about Smith carry heavy implications, described by experts as a “racial dog whistle.” Dr. Karrin Anderson, a communications studies professor, explained that such language is crafted to sound innocuous while targeting specific groups.
Historically, the term “low IQ” has been weaponized against people of color. Trump’s usage isn’t new; he previously labeled House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson with similar insults. During the 2024 Presidential election, he referred to former Vice President Kamala Harris as a “low-IQ individual.”
Trump has made this derogatory comment about Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Rep. Maxine Waters, among others. In 2011, he questioned how former President Barack Obama earned his degrees, claiming Obama was a “terrible student.”
Anderson noted that Trump’s indiscriminate application of “low IQ” to various Black individuals reveals its racist nature. The White House deflected inquiries to Trump’s comments made outside Air Force One.
The “low IQ” insult has deep roots in American history, according to Anderson. It reflects a long-standing belief among white male elites of their cognitive superiority over women and people of color.
Megan Figueroa, a research scientist, highlighted how the concept of IQ has justified horrific actions like racial segregation. The ideas were popularized by the discredited book “The Bell Curve,” which falsely claimed biological differences in intelligence among racial groups.
Despite being dismissed as pseudoscience, these notions persist in conservative circles. Anderson remarked on Trump’s ability to revive these ideas, suggesting that his political appeal allows such rhetoric to resurface.
Between January 20, 2025, and April 25, 2026, Trump used “low IQ” or variations of it 24 times, with 80% of those directed at Black or brown individuals. Notably, he did not label any white person with “low IQ” during the first ten months of his second term.
In an April 16 post targeting various public figures, Trump stated, “You’re born that way, LOW IQ, and there’s not a damn thing they’re going to be able to do about it!”
Anderson emphasized that Trump’s language signals shared ideologies with specific audiences. By using “low IQ” predominantly against Black individuals, he maintains plausible deniability regarding its racial implications.
This repeated use of the phrase amplifies its acceptance in public discourse. As noted by Harris, Trump’s rhetoric has shifted from a subtle dog whistle to a blatant bullhorn.
