Resurfaced Clip of Pete Davidson Saying Donald Trump Can 'Barely Read' Sends the Internet Buzzing

Pete Davidson said Donald Trump can barely read, and this blew up online; a lot of people have been talking about what exactly the comedian meant and whether there was any truth to it. Davidson's claim is making many think this explains some stuff Trump did and said before. For context, it all started when an X user, @RyanShead, posted a video with the caption, "Did you know Trump can barely read?" This got a lot of people sharing their own thoughts and stories.

One user, @fiona_webster22, chimed in with detailed observations: "Of course we know that. Dozens of people who worked for him in the WH have said he mostly only responds to charts & diagrams, because he can barely read. And Noel Casler, a producer on The Apprentice, said he could barely read the cue cards for the show, stumbling over any words that had more than two syllables. Noel said he had a severe reading disability. I've often wondered about how much of what's on the teleprompters for his speeches that he actually reads." @PenMandoGorgu said, "This just makes me like Pete so much more."

Others offered more succinct takes. @Monkie669_ quipped, "Trump gets really mad at words," while @martycomroe joked, "This is Donald confronted with da' big words..." Not everyone was convinced, however. @FOACAD defended Trump: "You do realize when he says he doesn't know how to 'read' he's talking about scripts and reading a role, he likes to ad lib and go off script, we all know this. The ignorance you display by working yourselves into a frenzy over nothing burgers is so hilarious to watch." @Uroburosoruboru echoed this sentiment, stating, "So, the joke is, Donald Trump can't act. That's not what he's there for."

Davidson talked about Trump's reading abilities on The Opie Radio Podcast. He shared his story about reading a script with Trump. The comedian mentioned that Trump had trouble with the script and wanted to do things his way because he had a problem with script reading but didn't go into details about Trump's struggles. That is why Davidson straight up said, "Donald Trump can't read." Back in 2019, Daily Kos reported that Trump was 'functionally illiterate,' almost as if he reads at a third or fourth-grade level. 

This isn't the first time Davidson has shared insights about Trump's behavior during his Saturday Night Live appearance. In a 2018 interview with Complex's Open Late with Peter Rosenberg, Davidson recounted an incident where Trump allegedly faked a phone call during a table read. "He was weird all week," Davidson said, mimicking Trump's actions: "Right as we started he's like, 'Hello… oh, fantastic. Okay great.' And then he hung up and he goes, 'Hey everybody, my book just went No. 1,'" as per The Daily Mail.