Fact Check: Did Trump call Republicans 'the dumbest group of voters' in a 1998 interview?

WASHINGTON, DC: A resurfaced rumor about Donald Trump is once again spreading across social media. A viral meme claims that in a 1998 interview with People magazine, Trump called Republicans “the dumbest group of voters in the country.”

The quote has been swirling online for years, but where did it come from, and is there any truth to it? Let’s break down the facts behind this persistent claim.

Claim: Viral post claims Trump called Republicans 'the dumbest group of voters'

The rumor linking Donald Trump to a controversial quote began circulating online in mid-October 2015.

According to the claim, Trump allegedly said in 1998 that he would one day run as a Republican because "they are the dumbest group of voters." The rumor also asserted that this statement appeared in an interview with People magazine that year.

The viral image features a younger Donald Trump alongside a sensational quote attributed to him. The text reads, “If I were to run, I'd run as a Republican. They're the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they'd still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terriffic."

As the image gained traction, many pointed to Trump's frequent appearances in People magazine before his rise to political prominence, particularly before he became the face of 'The Apprentice.'

However, most of the magazine's coverage of Trump during that period focused on his personal life, especially his high-profile marriages and divorces with Ivana Trump and Marla Maples.

While People occasionally touched on Trump’s political interests, or lack thereof, it was never the central theme. One notable example appeared in a December 1987 profile titled “Too Darn Rich,” which explored Trump’s early flirtations with politics.

The article detailed how both Democrats and Republicans had courted him. Then House Speaker Jim Wright, for instance, led a delegation to ask Trump to host a major Democratic fundraiser.

Although Trump identified as a Republican, he seriously considered the offer before ultimately declining under pressure from GOP allies.

Then Congressman Beryl Anthony Jr of Arkansas, who initiated the approach, later remarked, “There's no question he was getting a lot of pressure from the Republicans,” and suggested that the opportunity might have tested whether Trump could handle political scrutiny.

Fact Check: False, Trump did not make such claim about Republican voters

The widely circulated quote attributed to Donald Trump, supposedly from 1998, continues to spread across social media, even though fact-checkers have found no evidence he ever made the statement. Multiple versions of the quote have been shared online, prompting investigations that turned up nothing to support its authenticity.

People magazine, where the quote was allegedly published, told fact-checkers that it had no record of any such interview with Trump in 1998 and found nothing even remotely similar to the quote in its archives.

This claim has become a classic example of a “zombie rumor”, a false statement that continues to reappear online despite repeated efforts to disprove it. It has been in circulation for at least a decade.

Some versions of the meme feature a photo of a young Trump taken from his 1988 appearance on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show', where he was asked about the possibility of running for president. However, during that interview, Trump made no such comment or anything close to it.

 As for Trump's actual political activities in 1998, the year the quote supposedly originated from, his focus was quite different. At the time, Trump was actively supporting Republican causes. Senator Steven Geller, president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States, reported that Trump had raised around $1 million for George W Bush’s campaign and the Republican Party.

Geller also claimed to have heard from several sources, including Republican lobbyists, that despite denials, Trump had struck a deal to support the approval of Indian casinos in Florida.