Fact Check: Bernie Sanders Claims Trump Calls Himself a ‘Great Genius’

CLAIM: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) claimed during Tuesday evening’s Democrat debate in South Carolina that President Donald Trump describes himself as a “great genius.”

VERDICT: FALSE. Trump famously described himself as “a very stable genius.”

“In the White House today, we have a self-described ‘great genius,'” the socialist senator said, mimicking air quotes.

“Self-described,” he continued, talking about the “great genius’s” recent remarks on the coronavirus.

However, Sanders’ emphasis on Trump describing himself as a “great genius” is false. Trump famously referred to himself, not as a “great genius,” but “a very stable genius” in defense of the constant attacks on his mental health in January 2018.

At the time, Trump wrote:

Now that Russian collusion, after one year of intense study, has proven to be a total hoax on the American public, the Democrats and their lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, are taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence………Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star………to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius….and a very stable genius at that!

Now that Russian collusion, after one year of intense study, has proven to be a total hoax on the American public, the Democrats and their lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, are taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018

….Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018

….to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius….and a very stable genius at that!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018

One year later, Trump noted his consistency to reporters and described himself as “an extremely stable genius.”

Sanders proceeded to compare the global coronavirus outbreak to climate change.

“Whether or not the issue is climate change, which is clearly a global crisis requiring international cooperation, or infectious diseases like coronavirus, requiring international cooperation, we have to work and expand the World Health Organization (WHO),” Sanders said.

“Obviously we have to make sure the CD, the NIH, our infectious departments are fully funded. This is a global problem. We’ve got to work with countries all over the world to solve it,” he added.