What was claimed
People magazine quoted Donald Trump in 1998 as saying Republicans were the "dumbest group of voters in the country”.
Our verdict
This quote isn’t real. People magazine has stated it has no record of this quote being published by the outlet.
A widely debunked fake quote attributed to Donald Trump supposedly calling Republicans the “dumbest group of voters in the country” has been shared on social media again.
We’ve seen several posts resharing the quote on Threads in recent days in which President Trump supposedly said: “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 terrific.
Two versions of the post attribute it to People Magazine in 1998.
But, as we found when we fact checked posts sharing the same quote previously, there is no evidence that Mr Trump ever said this.
People magazine also told other fact checkers it “couldn’t find anything remotely like this quote” in its archives, and that it had no record of any interview with Mr Trump in 1998. The quote is an example of a “zombie claim”—one that crops up repeatedly over the course of weeks, months or years, even after being repeatedly debunked, and has been circulating for at least a decade.
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The photo accompanying the quote in some versions has been taken from an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1988, where Mr Trump appeared as a guest and was asked about a possible future run for the presidency.
However, he did not say the above quote, or anything resembling it, in his response.
We often see fake quotes attributed to prominent figures circulating on social media, including others supposedly made by President Trump. Before sharing content, consider whether its source is trustworthy, and verifiable. You can use our guides to better navigate media on the internet.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because this quote has been made up, and President Trump never said it.
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Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.