‘Dilbert’ Creator Scott Adams Talks Trump in ‘Win Bigly’

“We’re living in completely different realities. And that’s the way of the world.”

Win Bigly Book

Jake Neher/WDET

We’ve heard a lot of explanations about Donald Trump’s rise in American politics in 2016; it was growing anger about economic insecurity, it was a rise in overt xenophobia, it was Hillary Clinton’s shortcomings as a candidate, it was a fluke. 

But Scott Adams has a different take on Trump’s 2016 win. The creator of the “Dilbert” comic strip has been defending Trump as a candidate — although, not his specific policy proposals so much — since his early entry into the 2016 presidential race.

In his new book “Win Bigly,” Adams says Trump is a master persuader who used that, as well as basic and widely-practiced business tactics, to pave his path to the White House. He says Trump uses bombast and insult, such as calling Hillary Clinton “Crooked Hillary,” to his advantage.

“Using these types of insults that are inappropriate in the political domain is the reason we can’t look away,” says Adams. “And that’s what he does marvelously.”

Adams says Trump is a symptom of our divided nation, not a cause. He says the debate over truth and fiction illustrates that point.

“Facts certainly matter to outcomes… but they don’t matter to our decisions, even when they should,” he tells Detroit Today producer Jake Neher.

“The reality is we’re looking in the same data, but we’re creating different movies in our head to explain it.”

“We’re living in completely different realities. And that’s the way of the world.”

To hear the full conversation with Adams on Detroit Today, click on the audio player above.

Author

  • Dynamic and diverse voices. News, politics, community and the issues that define our region. Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stephen Henderson, Detroit Today brings you fresh and perceptive views weekdays at 9 am and 7 pm.