Trump's odd 'Unabomber' story is just the latest example in a worrying trend [View all]

Trump’s odd 'Unabomber' story is just the latest example in a worrying trend
The president’s story made no sense — and he also doesn't always appear to know what his own administration is doing.

July 19, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT
By Michael A. Cohen, MSNBC Columnist


Earlier this week, President Donald Trump told a story that, even for the least honest president in American history, was notable.

During an energy and technology summit in Pittsburgh, Trump claimed that his uncle John Trump, a former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, taught the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. “My uncle was at MIT, one of the great professors,” Trump said. “Fifty-one years, whatever. Longest-serving professor in the history of MIT. Three degrees in nuclear, chemical and math. That’s a smart man.”

Though Trump has claimed for years that his deceased uncle is the longest-serving professor at MIT, it’s not true, and it has been repeatedly debunked. But Trump was only getting started. Kaczynski was one of his uncle’s students, Trump said. He then asked the audience, “Do you know who Kaczynski was?” and cryptically noted, “There’s very little difference between a madman and a genius.”

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This is an interesting story, but what is most notable about the president’s digression is that none of it was true.

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Trump’s Unabomber tale is yet another example of the what can feel like an increasing disconnect from reality. Yet, as with so many of Trump’s recent and unsettling statements, too many in the mainstream media seem uninterested in covering the story. Trump’s Unabomber story has received scant coverage, despite reflecting a repeated pattern of confused and exaggerated statements. ..................(more)

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-unabomber-story-biden-cognitive-decline-rcna219453