8 in 10 Posts by Trump Calling Someone “Low IQ” Feature a Person of Color |
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In a Truth Social post last week, President Donald Trump referred to Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as a “low IQ person.”
Trump repeated that line of attack in a separate post this past weekend, directed at former MAGA ally Candace Owens. His post included a doctored image of Time magazine labeling the conservative pundit as “Vile Person of the Year.”
Trump’s use of the insult “low IQ” to deride political rivals or people he considers enemies is not exclusive to people of color. But an examination of the president’s social media posts shows that he overwhelmingly uses the term to target nonwhite people — and communications experts say that the phrase serves as a racist dog whistle to members of his political base.
Using search tools available at TrumpsTruth.org, Truthout examined every Truth Social post by Trump that included the term “IQ” from January 20, 2025, through April 25, 2026. In total, Trump used the term “low IQ” or some variation of it in 24 posts.
Trump referred to a white person as “low IQ” in just 32 percent of those posts, while 84 percent of the posts were directed at Black or Brown people.
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In his comments last Wednesday, Trump attacked the Supreme Court in general, whining that the liberal bloc of justices “ALWAYS vote as a group.” But he singled out Jackson as “that new, Low IQ person, that somehow found her way to the bench.”
Although Trump didn’t list her by name, the insult was clearly directed at Jackson, as he noted that the justice in question was appointed by former President Joe Biden. The post referred to the strong likelihood that the court will rule against Trump’s attempt to rewrite the 14th Amendment’s interpretation of birthright citizenship, an effort widely understood as an attempt to further codify white supremacy in the........