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Acclaimed Author Kurt Andersen Identifies Trump as a Con Man

Acclaimed Author Kurt Andersen Identifies Trump as a Con Man

Last updated on: June 25, 2026 at 8:15 pm by Kermit Zarley

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Acclaimed Author Kurt Andersen Identifies Trump as a Con Man 2026-06-25T20:15:31-07:00 Kermit Zarley

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Trump Mugshot; CREDIT: Fulton County Sheriff’s Office of Georgia

Today, the Daily Beast published an article by Catherine Bouris about an interview of acclaimed author and journalist Kurt Andersen unlocking the secret behind U.S. President Donald Trump’s appeal to American voters. The article is entitled, “The Real Reason Trump Talks Like an Idiot: Author.” She says Andersen, who has written books that include material about Donald Trump—e.g., Evil Geniuses and Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire—was interviewed by Joanna Cole on the Daily Beast Podcast in which he explained that Trump’s appeal to American voters is due to his similarity to “one of America’s most famous con men.” That would be the showman P. T. Barnum of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus fame.

Throughout Donald Trump’s tenure as U.S. president, I believed that he belonged more in a circus than in the White House. This comes out partially in my book, Bible Predicts Trump Fall.

Is Trump Mentally Disturbed or Just Stupid?

Andersen further alleged about Trump in the interview, “He’s an idiot. He’s always been stupid. And his stupidity has been an under-remarked upon, unheralded part of his … mental disorders.” Trump’s former friend Howard Stern once advised Trump while he was interviewing him on his televised talk show that Trump should see a psychiatrist, and Stern meant it sincerely, not rhetorically, since Stern himself was often testifying that he himself had been so helped.

Andersen also claimed in the interview that America has a “weakness ‘for being conned.'” He alleged that Donald Trump is the ultimate con man who never had any political experience or civil service, yet he conned his way into the White House and thereby became the world’s most important and influential person during this time.

Is Trump a Con Like Circus Guy P.T. Barnum?

Andersen further asserted that, like P. T. Barnum, Trump’s modus operandi is getting attention at any cost, especially the cost of the truth. Andersen related that Barnum’s first freak show in the circus was an acclaimed 161-year-old woman, and America paid dearly to see her. Barnum argued that, since it could not be proved that the woman was not that old, it was possible that she truly was that age. Andersen said of Barnum, “He didn’t hide it. He didn’t pretend it was true. He said, ‘How do you know it’s not?’ If you can’t prove it’s not and people enjoy it, then that’s entertainment.'” That’s a con man.

That’s Donald Trump through and through. He is always talking, getting attention from the press as much as possible. He utters all kinds of lies without backing them up with evidence. He doesn’t believe in such detail. It’s like he told his friend Billy Bush, who is George W. Bush’s cousin and the host of the “Access Hollywood” TV program. I quote it in my book about what Billy Bush said (p. 14), “He relates that Donald Trump kept telling people that ‘The Apprentice’ was the No. 1 show on TV [wherein Trump starred]. Bush countered by telling The Donald it wasn’t true. Trump then said, ‘Billy, look, you just tell them and they believe it. That’s it; you just tell them and they believe. They just do.'” Indeed, Trump believes that the more he repeats his lies and people see and hear it through the media, the more people will be convinced that these lies are true. As to whether Trump himself believes all his lies is another story that maybe no one knows.

Getting Attention at Any Cost, Including the Truth

Bouris relates, “Barnum’s understanding, as Andersen explains in his book, was that attention is what matters, not the truth. This approach would later be adopted by Trump and those who elevated him to national prominence.” Andersen then blames a large part of this reception of Trump’s deception on Evangelicals who had a huge part in electing Trump both times as president.

As a lifelong Evangelical, this is what bothered me to constantly blog about Trump and turn it into a book. I explain on the book’s back cover that regarding Trump’s first campaign for the U.S. presidency, “From the beginning, Zarley thought Trump was very arrogant, a big liar, unfit to be president, and a danger to democracy. Since Kermit is a lifelong evangelical, he also was alarmed that Trump’s political base consisted of so many evangelicals. It was causing people to equate evangelicalism with Republican politics and its Trumpism. In contrast, the author posted on his blog, on May 20, 2016, ‘I think Donald Trump is a big bag of hot air ready to blow up like the Hindenburg blimp if he becomes U.S. president.”

Norman Vincent Peale’s Influence on The Donald

In the Introduction of my book, I explain how The Donald got this way, that is, about those in his young life who influenced him to become the person he is today. One of the most prominent was the pastor of the church where young Donald and his family attended. That pastor was Norman Vincent Peale, the author of the bestselling book, The Power of Positive Thinking.

I write in my book (p. 8) that Trump said of Peale in a political gathering in 2015, “You could listen to him all day long, and when you left the church, you were disappointed it was over. He was the greatest guy. He thought I was the greatest student of all time.”

I then write (p. 11), “Donald Trump may have taken Dr. Peale’s positive-thinking to another level unintended by the pastor. Trump’s positive-thinking became magical thinking that often untethered to reality. That what you call self-deception—living in a dream world. But Donald would not have arrived there without being the classic narcissist that I believe he is. The problem is that he infects others with his delusions.” Indeed, that’s what con men do.

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