The president’s brain seems to be stuck in the 1980s.

There is no Russian city called Leningrad anymore, but apparently no one bothered to tell Donald Trump.

Archive article:https://archive.is/BNBGH

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
    1028·
    16 days ago

    Im all for calling out Trump for his senility as much as the next guy, but this is kind of reaching to call a dementia moment…even I didnt know Leningrad wasn’t a city anymore. And im in my 30s, far from senile…Hell, I didnt know it was called Saint Petersburg before. And it was only renamed St. Petersburg in the 90s sometime. Probably something you’d only know if you are actually a Russian citizen, or live there.

    Or you know… googled it just now and read the Wikipedia article on it.

    Edit: Wow, didnt realize calling out an article for its bullshit would be a controversial opinion. I’d ask my mom if she knows where St. Petersburg and Leninburg are at, but I already know she wouldn’t know they were the same city…ya’ll can stop telling me how common knowledge this is now. I dont care.

    Edit 2: just for funsies, I asked my mom (in her 60s btw) if she knew where Leningrad was…she had no idea.

    • AmidFuror@fedia.io
      28·
      16 days ago

      No, if you were old enough when the Berlin Wall came down and had any interest in world news, you would know about Leningrad and St. Petersburg. I guess if you’re young enough, that’s not part of the zeitgeist for you. I’m kind of surprised you’d heard of Leningrad, to be honest.

      For someone with Trump’s upbringing, not knowing this is either dementia or he’s always been an idiot. Given when he was running in 2016 he didn’t know the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas, I would lean toward idiot.

    • floofloof@lemmy.ca
      18·
      16 days ago

      Probably something you’d only know if you are actually a Russian citizen, or live there.

      It’s generally known. It’s not an obscure fact, at least outside of the USA. I agree with you that this is weak evidence of dementia. But since this is a basic fact any politician dealing with Russia should know, it’s at least evidence (if we needed any) that Trump is not qualified for the job of President.

    • Legianus@programming.devEnglish
      11·
      16 days ago

      I don’t know, I would say after the fall of the Soviet Union its renaming was fairly common knowledge if you lived through that (even outside the former Soviet States)

        • Legianus@programming.devEnglish
          4·
          16 days ago

          Fair, but I mostly meant people who really experienced and remembered it. Aged around 50+ (like Trump).

          So forgetting that… Not a big deal. Remembering its old name first… OK, not remembering the current name after the old one - weird. And, finally, doing that constantly in many occasions, sign of mental problems.

          • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
            15·
            16 days ago

            I just asked my over 60 year old mother where Leningrad was and she had no idea. I told her it was St. Petersburg…so, just a single data point. But, it ain’t as ubiquitous as all you old farts seem to think it is :P

    • kylie_kraft@lemmy.world
      81·
      16 days ago

      The… the fucking president of the United States should know about St. Petersburg. I don’t care if it’s senility or not bothering to read or learn anything since the 1980s.

    • angrystego@lemmy.world
      21·
      16 days ago

      YOU don’t have to know. But a president not knowing is terrifying. He has to have at least some knowledge of the countries he’s dealing with. It’s his job.

      • AmidFuror@fedia.io
        2·
        16 days ago

        I’m starting to think it was a regional thing. I went to school when it was still Leningrad, and we learned about Hegel, Marx, Lenin, the Bolsheviks, the Russian Revolution, and the renaming of St. Petersburg. Maybe that’s why it stuck more when it was changed back.

        Even old New York was once New Amsterdam!