Did Trump say 'smart people don't like me?' What we know about the viral video Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAYSeptember 17, 2025 at 12:03 AM 0 A video showing President Donald Trump saying "smart people don't like me" is going viral on social media.
- - Did Trump say 'smart people don't like me?' What we know about the viral video
Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAYSeptember 17, 2025 at 12:03 AM
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A video showing President Donald Trump saying "smart people don't like me" is going viral on social media.
The shortened clip was posted to X by anti-Trump account PatriotTakes on Sept. 14 and garnered more than nine million views as of the morning of Sept. 16.
The footage appears to be from a private fundraiser at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey. A longer version of the video shows Trump going on to discuss the suspect in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
When asked about the video, the White House doubled down on Trump's comments and blamed the left for Kirk's death. Authorities investigating the case have not yet confirmed the shooter's motive.
More: Trump officials vow crackdown on left-leaning groups after Charlie Kirk killing
1 / 8Charlie Kirk vigil held at Kennedy Center in Washington, DCMourners queue to attend a vigil for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on September 14, 2025.Did Trump say, 'smart people don't like me?'
A video posted to Facebook and Instagram by Nicole Kiprilov shows Trump saying this. Her post indicates he was speaking at a gala for Hope Through Education when he made the remarks.
Kiprilov is a Republican strategist, according to her social media profiles. She did not respond to USA TODAY's inquiries about the video.
"Smart people don't like me," Trump said in the video, receiving a wave of laughs from the room. The context before this comment was not included in the clip posted to social media.
"And they don't like what we talk about but he's become radicalized. So many things have been learned about him so quickly," Trump continued in the video. "He's become totally radicalized and crazy and it must have been traumatic because the parents are conservative people supposed to be very nice people living in Utah and the father turns in the son. Boy that's a tough deal. I actually asked somebody in the FBI. How often does that happen where knowing even the guilt that a father will turn in or parents will turn in the son and he said 'almost never.'"
USA TODAY also reached out to Hope Through Education for this story.
Trump blames Charlie Kirk's killing on left. Political violence affects both sides
Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, grew up in Utah and was a former straight-A student. USA TODAY previously reported Robinson was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from a young age, though neighbors said he rarely went to services in previous years. Officials say more information about Robinson's potential motive could be released when he is formally charged. Law enforcement also said he held a "leftist ideology" and became increasingly political in recent years.
"President Trump is right," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to USA TODAY when asked about the viral video. "For years, radical leftists have slandered their political opponents as Nazis and Fascists, inspiring left-wing violence like the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk."
Trump officials have also threatened to go after left-leaning groups over the shooting.
In some of his remarks on the shooting, Trump has not mentioned other instances of political voilence that targeted the left, like an arson attack at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's house, a kidnapping plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and the death of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman who was shot to death in her home along with her husband and dog earlier this summer.
Contributing: Joey Garrison, James Powel, Davis Winkie, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Smart people don't like me,' Trump says in viral video
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