In 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump declared, surrounded by his two eldest sons, “I love uneducated people.” In response, Eric Trump turned to his father and smiled broadly. He felt seen.
Republican then-presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters after being declared the winner of the Nevada Republican Caucus by a television network during a caucus night rally in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 23. Give a speech using body language. , 2016.
Jim Young/Reuters
But not everyone who craves President Trump's approval can convincingly describe themselves as “lowly educated.” Many of the Republican politicians aspiring to become vice president have degrees from elite universities, creating a sad picture of distancing themselves from their Ivy League pasts and dragging down dreams of a brighter future.
Trump himself graduated from an Ivy League school, gleefully boasting that he earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. The UPenn student newspaper even calculated that from May 16, 2015 to January 17, 2018, President Trump touted his relationship with Wharton 93 times.
look!It is the orange pot that calls the kettle black
Still, no one would accuse Trump of being educated. He may have gotten past Wharton by grabbing the crocodile skin of his father's wallet, but his anti-intellectual beliefs are strong. According to Trump, he doesn't need to know anything to be smart…he just doesn't pay taxes.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) has been in the business since graduating magna cum laude from Yale University in 2001 and then attending Harvard Law School, where he also earned a J.D., magna cum laude. It's getting harder to pretend that he's incompetent (but it's still an excellent performance; this time he had the best results, so he was on the right track).
Still, DeSantis wanted to distance himself from elites, so he completely redefined the concept in his book, The Courage to Be Free. He wrote that elites are identified by a desire to conquer others, adding, “The word 'elite' does not mean people of tremendous aptitude, great wealth, or great achievements.” Ta.
In 2018, President Trump told a crowd in Minnesota, “Have you ever noticed how they always refer to their opponents as 'elites'?…Why are they elites?” Who wants to tell DeSantis that when President Trump said the exact opposite? I have a much better apartment than they do. I'm smarter than them. I'm richer than them. I became president and they didn't. ”
Sen. James David (J.D.) Vance (R-Ohio) earned his bachelor's degree from the unassuming Ohio State University, but later earned his J.D. from Yale University, where he edited the Yale Law Journal. served as a person. While a law student, Vance was encouraged by memoirist Amy Chua to write his own memoir, and his Hillbilly Elegy reached number one on the ultra-elite New York Times bestseller list. did.
J.D. Vance casually forgets that President Trump dined with anti-Semites
Vance's wife, an aspiring second lady of the United States, has impressive credentials as well. Usha Chilukuri Vance holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Cambridge and a J.D. from Yale Law School. In 2016, her husband said: “The elite speak a different language, eat different food, listen to different music – I was surprised to find out that people listen to classical music for fun…” For Usha, this is dinner conversation. must have been awkward. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Another potential Trump second choice, Gov. Doug Burgum (R-North Dakota), graduated from the decidedly less elite North Dakota State University and then went on to earn an MBA from the decidedly elite Stanford University. obtained. Burgum founded a software company that he later sold to Microsoft for his $1.1 billion, making him the richest of the vice president candidates.
But don't mistake Burgum for being part of a privileged class. When running for president in 2023, Burgum received support from “Transformers” actor Josh Duhamel, who posted: He is truly a man of the people! ” And Duhamel knows everything about people. He even described them as “the face of North Dakota.” The two-year contract for 2020-2021 reportedly paid taxpayers $87,500 a year, more than double the per capita income of North Dakota residents of $40,748 during the same period. is.
And then there's Trump fanatic Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). He has attacked Harvard spewing hatred while confusingly boasting that he is a Harvard graduate. And she did it all with ease on her own voter-facing page.
The family fortune behind the myth of Elise Stefanik's humble origins
Stefanik received her BA from Harvard University in 2006 and remained at the Harvard Institute of Politics until 2021, when the dean of the Harvard Kennedy School asked her to step down from the senior advisory committee. It is written as follows. Or her choice of presidential candidates. Rather, in my assessment, Elise is making public claims without any evidence of voter fraud in the November presidential election…
Sometimes they distance themselves from their alma mater. And sometimes your alma mater moves away from you.
This poses a challenge for the MAGA GOP, which needs to be flexible about its dominance while remaining populist. Stefanik went from highlighting his Harvard background in his early campaign ads to being scathing about the brands that feed him.
Even if any of the candidates who wrote these letters were to win the vice president position, they would likely only whisper about their gaudy educational accomplishments in college clubs where hoi polloi are banned. Dew. On the other hand, when you throw a book into a bonfire in public, you might also throw your prestigious diploma into it as well.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
Get The Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered to your inbox. Sign up now.
Stay informed and enjoy unlimited access to The Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
