CIA Post: Obama is a dignified intellectual, Trump is a boorish idiot

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Donald Trump and Barack Obama have almost nothing in common. From their backgrounds to their policy views to their approach to politics, the two men are almost diametrically opposed. But nowhere is the difference between the two men more apparent — and striking — than in their approach to learning and knowledge.

Obama's background was professorial and intellectual. He taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago. He went to Columbia University and Harvard Law School. He wrote a critically acclaimed memoir of his life. He regularly talked about books he had read, authors he admired.

Trump is not those things. Actively and purposely so. Two quotes from an interview Trump gave to Axios earlier this week tell that story:

1. “I like bullets or I like as little as possible. I don't need, you know, 200-page reports on something that can be handled on a page. That I can tell you.”

2. This.

Q: What books are you reading?
A: Look over there. There are some books. pic.twitter.com/9cItkOPMQ7

— Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) January 18, 2017

Obama gave an exit interview to the New York Times's book critic, Michiko Kakutani, in which he said (among other things): “I would say Shakespeare continues to be a touchstone.” Trump regularly tweets about his satisfaction or, more often, his dissatisfaction, with what he watches on cable TV.

At 9:00 P.M. @CNN, of all places, is doing a Special Report on my daughter, Ivanka. Considering it is CNN, can't imagine it will be great!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2017

This is not by accident on Trump's part. Every president is a reaction — whether positive or negative — to the president that came before him. Trump's campaign was pitched entirely at the idea that egg-headed wonks and liberal elitists — including the entire literary and entertainment culture centered on the two coasts — were not only deeply out of touch with the concerns of average Americans but also dismissive of them. Trump isn't friends with novelists. He isn't hobnobbing with Lena Dunham. You get the idea.

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