Trump told People magazine that Republicans are the dumbest voters

Trump told People magazine that Republicans are the dumbest voters
	FALSE
	"In a 1998 interview with People magazine, Donald Trump said that if he ran for president he would run as a Republican because they are "the dumbest group of voters in the country.""
Domain	Politics & Elections
Tactic	Fabrication; Imposture;
Era	Current
First seen	2015
Origin	A meme shared on Facebook in October 2015, showing Trump's photo beside the fabricated quotation
Last reviewed	2026-10-29
	Further reading: books on Politics & Elections

A widely shared meme claims Donald Trump told People magazine in 1998 that he would run for president as a Republican because Republicans are the dumbest voters and believe anything on Fox News. No such interview or quotation exists. Fact-checkers searched People's archives and databases of Trump's interviews and found nothing.

The claim

The meme presents the quote as proof that Trump privately holds his own voters in contempt. It has been shared by millions of people, including some prominent figures.

What the evidence shows

No such interview. Fact-checkers found no People interview with Trump in 1998 containing the quote, or anything like it in any publication.
Pattern. The meme first spread in October 2015 and resurfaced in later elections.
What Trump did say. In a 1999 interview he said he considered himself more of a Democrat on some issues, and in 2004 he told CNN that the economy seemed to do better under Democrats. Those real statements do not match the meme.

Why it persists

It confirms what many critics believe about Trump and is attached to a real publication, which makes it seem sourced.

Lessons for readers

A quote with a publication name and year is easy to check; check before sharing.
Fabricated quotes are a common tactic on all sides.

Sources

Snopes, "1998 Trump Quote," October 2015.
PolitiFact, "Fake quote from Donald Trump in People magazine," October 2015.