“Hes NOT stupid...much as some would love to paint him that way because he is a Texan.”
No. He’s just ruthless.
Yes, he can be ruthless. But this is an utterly stupid thing to do and
he DOES know that something like that would ruin his chances of
ever being taken seriously. If someone in his “camp” spread
this gossip, then they did it without his approval, IMO.