Does Trump know how to read?

On a primary school level, sure. That is how he talks and tweets, anyway.

It’s possible that he can’t read – or has difficulties. He certainly speaks as though he is proud of himself for forming a sentence. He’s often so proud, that he has to repeat the sentence a few times.

But the thing that is bad about Trump is his right-wing politics. Liberals love to call him a felon or orange or orangutan, as though that makes him worse. Remember when they used to focus on the size of his hands and insinuate that it meant he had a small penis?

Here’s the thing. There are things to criticize Trump for without demonizing felons or those with limited literacy or making small penis jokes. Those things just make the arguments against his politics seem insincere. It’s like when Republicans used to talk about the size of Hillary Clinton’s ass or her clothing, rather than her politics (hint: they didn’t really oppose her politics).

Is basic literacy an important skill for a US president to have? I don’t necessarily think so. It’s mostly a figurehead position, and is used to bring in votes for the wing of the uniparty so they can play the whole “democracy” thing.

I’d take an actual leftist who couldn’t read, was a convicted felon, had bad skin, no hair, was not attractive, and could hardly speak over any president we’ve had in US history.

Read? This is the mob boss that thinks a trade deficit is a subsidy.

Can’t read, Can’t form a full coherent sentence, cornered trying to read King Charles letter.

Doesn’t surprise me.

We know he sees colors very clearly.

King Charles’ letter was in English – - maybe if it was Russian, he wouldn’t have trouble.

I do think he can’t read and probably has the reading level of a 3rd grader, but I’m sure he also needs glasses but refuses to wear them because they show he is aging and he thinks it makes him seem weak. The man is so vain that you can easily get him to sign off and giving away his millions because he won’t read what he’s signing.

He was certainly not a top student at Wharton in the late 60s, but he was a student at Wharton in the late 60s. Of course he can read. That was back when they just flunked you out if you could not keep up, even if daddy pulled strings for you. Unlike today…

He probably can read better than most of us here on fluther to be honest. Most of us would come off as blithering idiots in front of a camera.

@Blackwater_Park “That was back when they just flunked you out if you could not keep up, even if daddy pulled strings for you.”

I’m just curious if you have any evidence to support this statement? Because if Trump truly can’t read, it would seem like perhaps daddy could pull strings to get you a degree. Furthermore, Epstein candidly claimed that Trump couldn’t read a balance statement. That’s something an undergrad business major (hell even minor) can do.

@gorillapaws I doubt daddy got him his degree. Just think about what that would take. He was on Twitter all the time, of course he can read. He is 60 years removed from said education, so it’s plausible he can’t read a balance sheet, but consider your source here.

I think he knows how to read, but might have dyslexia or eyesight issue’s, or simply doesn’t want to.

I think he can definitely read. He’s quite obviously reading off of teleprompters during his speeches. His comprehension is possibly below average, or just at average. My assumption is average would be low for most presidents. Especially presidents with law degrees. Trump doesn’t have a law degree.

My reading comprehension was only average in school when they evaluated it every couple of years, but my IQ tested top 4% consistently. The school took me out of class at one point during jr. high to try to improve my comprehension, but I was too lazy and hated reading. Possibly, he is similar to me, or more extreme than me, meaning lower reading comprehension than myself and didn’t improve with age. I have no idea how he tested for IQ.

Adding that I have a business degree. More specifically I have a marketing degree, which is within the business school. The weeder class for the business school was Algebra 2, which I took in 10th grade, and I took Business Calculus in community college before transferring to a university.

My point is, business degrees are not heavy on the reading to pass. You probably won’t have a high GPA, but you can get a degree.

@JLeslie Agree. I have an engineering degree and an MBA. The MBA was a joke compared to engineering. Business is not a hard degree to get, anyone with an average IQ, arithmetic skills, and reading comprehension can do it. That said, I learned a lot of useful things in business school. It just did not take much effort. Trump is also an old man who is likely too vain to put on reading glasses. I’m not even 50 yet and if someone handed me a paper to read I’m going to have to reach for them. When it comes to reading comprehension, Flutheries are an exception because we have a lot of avid readers here. The general population does not like to read, and it shows. I know quite a few smart people who just hate reading. I think Trump is in that category. Yes, his vocabulary sucks, but he is certainly not illiterate. He is just an average reader.

@Blackwater_Park It’s possible he had cataract surgery (especially because of all his hours on the golf course, in the sun, getting his eyes ruined) and therefore had lens replacements which might explain why he doesn’t wear glasses. Someone in my family got cataract surgery in the last few months, and he’s 76, and now no longer wears glasses for distance, reading, anything. It feels funny to look at him because for the past few decades he always had glasses on, and now, no glasses at all.

I always thought cataract surgery just removed cataracts but I didn’t know they actually put new lenses in.

@Blackwater_Park Even engineering probably doesn’t have the quantity of reading that a law degree has. My dad LOVES to read and can read a book in a day. A 150 page book is agony for me and can easily take me three months. I dread it or at mínimum I simply don’t enjoy it, but I can do it. I figure people who pursue law love to read. They are constantly reading cases, reading evidence, reading contracts, it’s all reading. I’m actually great at scanning a page for a keyword, but reading a 20 page contract I’m pissed off.

@JLeslie Engineers have to read a lot. Not so much in school, but in their career.

@Blackwater_Park I was thinking school, but I also probably underestimate how much reading engineers do during their careers. I know a lot of engineers, and most of them are very well read on many topics actually. Very curious, which makes sense, always wanting to know details.