Sadiq Khan Should Accept Donald Trump’s IQ Test Challenge
I don’t really know much about political life, but much of it seems to be spent talking and positioning. Insulting and grandstanding. Rarely, if ever, do people get called out on any of it.
So, we should consider it a delicious treat that when London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Trump’s views on Islam were ignorant, Trump challenged him to an IQ test.
You can quibble some. IQ tests don’t have Islamic questions on them. But that’s beside the point. As the insultee, Trump has issued a challenge, and it is incumbent on Sadiq Khan to either offer an apology or accept the challenge.
I suggest the latter is Khan’s best option with the scores of both test-takers being disclosed to the public thereafter. He has everything to gain and nothing to lose from facing off against the the President of the United States even if the test is one of Trump’s own choosing. Especially then in fact. Trump’s faith in his own intelligence has been one of his few consistencies. A public loss would be devastating to him.
Of course, Khan wouldn’t himself want to lose either, but even if he did, I don’t think he’d suffer much from it provided he put in an adequate above-average showing. To be measured against the leader of another nation is already a compliment.
The biggest beneficiaries would of course be the American public. I would genuinely be interested in whether we are dealing with an 11-dimensional-chess brain or a Dunning-Kruger-effect brain. Personally, I’d rather have the results of Trump’s IQ test than any number of his tax returns.
Step up, Mr. Khan. We need you.
If he took the challenge, Trump would back down, equivocate about why, and tweet something new and wonderfully offensive to distract the media from his cowardice.Report
“I know the tests. I took all the best tests. I did a great job. Just tremendous. Believe me. But all those tests – they’re stacked like THIS, most people’s tests are small, mine are THIS HIGH – they’re under audit. Can’t show you. That’s what happens. So big, tho. Bigly. Not sad. Believe me.”Report
I don’t know about that. I’m not entirely convinced that he’s a pure con man with a realistic view of the world. He may very well believe he has one of the highest IQs on Earth. Seeing how responded would actually be pretty interesting. Does he know he’s a bit of a dunce or does he believe his own PR?Report
“Who knew taking an intelligence test could be so hard?”Report
Hell, he could have a high IQ, or at least have had a high IQ when he was tested way back when.
There are some amazingly dumb motherfuckers with high IQs out there.Report
It’s quite possible Trump would back down, but that doesn’t mean you don’t force him to actually do it. Those in the audience will know what it meansReport
I agree. It would be a display of childish power concepts, but that’s the level Trump operates in. He would never accept that challenge because merely agreeing to it would mean (to Trump) that the other kid already won: he compelled Trump to take the test.Report
Traditionally, the one who is challenged gets the choice of weapons.
Nonetheless, Mr Khan should totally do this.Report
Khan should choose US history. Guaranteed win.Report
This would be pretty great. The question is, how to avoid cheating. My read is, there is no way in hell Trump would step up and take a fair, objectively graded test. It’s just, the risks.Report
He’s not been exactly stellar so far at cheating without getting caught…Report
Trump, being a very slight bit narcissistic, has probably taken quite a lot of IQ tests, which is why he issued the challenge. My guess is that he’s 150 or higher, given that he ran circles around some of the roughest sharks in one of the world’s toughest high-stakes real-estate markets. He’s also the kind of person that would likely have studied all the tricks and techniques for scoring well.Report
I think this is possible. Not probable, but I wouldn’t be flabbergasted by a score a couple standard deviations above average. Either way, I want to know!Report
Either way, it’s political gold level entertainment.Report
As delightfully delicious as this idea is… how does it differ from all the other “tests” we anticipated Trump would fail, watched him fail, and watched as it matter not a bit.
If Trump wins, Trumpers will tout how much smarter he is than the dirty A-Rab.
If Trump loses, Trumpers will tout how much smarter he is than the dirty A-Rab.
Isn’t it obvious that support for Trump is predicated on a denial of reality?
Oh… wait… shit… Hi Miners! You guys are swell!Report
And yet Trump is still president unlike Hillary “I’ll put coal miners out of work” Clinton.Report
In this case it’s one he’s himself selectedReport
One the one hand, there’s no way to stop him from cheating.
On the other hand, he’ll cheat by having Jared Kushner take the test for him.Report
OK, it’s official, IQ should never be in the post title, it attracts too many bots.Report