Posted on 01/09/2016 2:31:22 PM PST by conservativejoy
Donald Trump frequently tells crowds that he went to Wharton, as a credential to prove that he is intelligent:
"I went to the Wharton School of Business," he noted several times. "I'm, like, a really smart person."
"Why do you have to tell us all the time that you went to Wharton?†moderator Chuck Todd asked. "People know you're successful."
"They know it's a great business school," Trump replied.
You might be forgiven for thinking from this, as I did, that Trump has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. He doesn't. He actually has an undergraduate degree for the two years he spent there. Yes, I said two years. Trump was not able to get into the Wharton School (undergraduate) when he applied to college. He spent his first two years at Fordham University, a respectable school, but no where near as rigorous as Wharton (either undergraduate or graduate). The circumstances of his admissions are not clear, but the Daily Caller suggested Trump may have used a family connection to gain admittance.
So instead of saying "I'm smart because I went to Wharton!" Trump should be saying, "I'm smart because I went to Fordham for two years, and then Wharton for my final two years!"
Trump apparently graduated Wharton without any honors. Like Obama, he refuses to release his grades.
Asked by The Daily Caller if Trump was willing to release his college records before he officially entered the race for the White House, a spokesman for Trump said Team Trump would "pass" on the opportunity in April.
In sum, Trump has no graduate degree from Wharton, or anywhere else, and there is no evidence that he was a distinguished student.
Why does any of this matter? Trump seems to be implying that he has an MBA from the top business school in America. He doesn't.
And worst of all, he doesn't talk like a smart person. He often doesn't even speak in complete sentences. He often speaks in a kind of abbreviated fashion that people have trouble understanding. Here is just one example:
Look, having nuclear-my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart-you know, if you're a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, OK, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I'm one of the smartest people anywhere in the world-it's true!-but when you're a conservative Republican they try-oh, do they do a number-that's why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune-you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we're a little disadvantaged-but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me-it would have been so easy, and it's not as important as these lives are (nuclear is powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what's going to happen and he was right- who would have thought?), but when you look at what's going on with the four prisoners-now it used to be three, now it's four-but when it was three and even now, I would have said it's all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don't, they haven't figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it's gonna take them about another 150 years-but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us.
"Having nuclear"? "It would have been so easy, and it's not as important as these lives are"? "Nuclear is powerful, my uncle explained that to me"? "the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it's gonna take them about another 150 years"?
This is how a child talks. A smart person doesn't have to repeatedly say that he is smart; Ted Cruz doesn't start every speech by mentioning he went to Harvard; a smart person doesn't use words like "stupid" or "dumb" to explain their opponents; and so on.
Donald Trump is not only pretending to be conservative, he's pretending to be brilliant. He's not, and it is comical how people listening to his Gollum-like stream of consciousness self-dialogues think that he is. Even when he explains how it is simply not possible for a Wharton graduate to accuse Megyn Kelly of menstruating.
(Abridged version originally published in American Thinker)
Well, his dad began developing Alzheimers around the same age Donald is now.
What did Barack Obama use? I mean, besides affirmative action? And when was the last time Barack Obama built a billion-dollar empire in real estate? He's never even practiced law. He's been a well-paid welfare baby since he was old enough to roll a doob.
At least Trump has earned HIS success.
My son has a friend who went to Wharton. Like Trump he didn’t get an MBA but went as an undergrad. He was a kid who had to repeat Kindergarten and was nothing special in the brains department. However, he was a fantastic tennis player and had a relative who was a huge contributor to Wharton.
Right now he’s earning a small fortune.
Man this is a pretty pathetic attempt to attack Trump. Who exactly will this resonate with? The same effete elitists that Trump is running against that the majority of Americans hate? These people actually think they are smarter because they speak with bigger words and in complete sentences? I think after someone has managed to make billions and has proven business acumen his college grades are not all that relevant. The proof is in the pudding. Unlike the Constitutional Scholar, Barack Obama, Trump has actually worked in the private sector and actually created jobs directly by building businesses.
Aside from that I can attest that Washington DC is filled to the brim with the best educated people in the world. I worked there for a while in Advanced Analytics & Intel Systems for Customs. My boss was once tasked with protecting George H. W. Bush. The problem with Washington DC isn’t with book smarts. The problem with DC is the lack of wisdom and also the lack of a sense of obligation to the citizens that they serve. Many of them view every day Americans with contempt. I remember a particular incident when one of my managers expressed the open sentiment in a meeting that they’d rather see Texas bombed than Iraq and it was clear it wasn’t really a joke. Just take that in for a moment. This was a man with a top level security clearance and very well educated.
There is a very real bubble in Washington DC which is illustrated best by the fact that the 13 richest counties in the country circle that city. It is a bubble of the self absorbed with many who see themselves as the heirs to an unofficial American Aristocracy. Its no surprise that they are so detached from the reality most Americans live. They are protected from suffering the consequences of their failures because everyone but them bear the costs.
Do you have a Penius?
Stupid. Trump has never tried to say he has an MBA.
‘Well, his dad began developing Alzheimers around the same age Donald is now.’
Not true. Fred Trump developed Alzheimer’s when he was 87. Trump is 69.
Actually,what he says, and he says it in common terms so that we can understand it, has been shown to hold up well, even when you get the initial impression that he is speaking off the cuff.
One example, his comment that we should have a pause in Muslim immigration for a while and understand what we are doing first is not a bad idea. View what has happened and is happening in Europe. When he said it there was an outcry, but events have proven that he did in fact think it out. (Which was what he said at the time.)
Unintelligible to you because of your capacity issues.
When a person talks informally and it is reduced to a transcript, the person will generally come across as uneducated. Verbal communication is generally not that precise. If Trump had written those words, then I would question his writing skills. Trump doesn’t come across as a trained orator but people understand what he means. I’d rather listen to Trump’s less-than-eloquent speeches than Obama’s reading of a teleprompter.
I want America fixed, and Trump is the man to do it.
When I think of Trump’s intellectual betters, a fellow by the name of Cruz comes to mind.
He’s also Trump’s superior in conservatism, by the way.
Comparing Trump to U.S. Grant? Egad.
I concur. Trying to imply that Trump is somehow dumb because he doesn’t have an MBA? Ridiculous. There are plenty of issues that Trump is vulnerable on. Lets move AWAY from silly celebrity politics and focus on the issues!
Nothing but envy drives these hit pieces. If only they were as smart as Trump. These guys remind me of investment advisers who claim to have the right advice on investing my money. The discussion always comes around to if they are so smart why aren’t they filthy rich, luxuriating down in the Caribbean, sitting under a palm tree sipping pina coladas.
Agreed. I hope it is Cruz, because he will restore adherence to the constitution, but this is war for the America I grew up in — which today bears no resemble nice to that time. I will take Trump in a heartbeat.
I want our country back. Period.
Love him or hate him, there’s no disputing his ability to grab peopld
One of my MBA classmates went to Wharton undergrad.
I asked him why he did not go to Wharton for his MBA. Turns out they will not accept Wharton BSBA undergrads into the Wharton MBA program!
My friend said that the course material is nearly identical between the BSBA and the MBA programs. He said that frequently he would have a test or exam in an elective class with the undergrad course number in the upper left corner of the test and the graduate course number in the upper right corner.
Good God. I thought (seriously) you were attempting a pun on Preibus...
I think he means he went to Wharton. Duh...
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