Jane Goodall says Donald Trump reminds her of 'male chimpanzees and their dominance rituals'
![Jane Goodall with a chimpanzee](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/khbfeSpemeA3BKThk6iDL6-1024-80.jpg)
Here's something Republican Donald Trump can add to his list of personal superlatives: He's the most dominant presidential candidate ever! Well, he would be if he were a chimpanzee running for president of the jungle.
In comments shared in an article from the October issue of The Atlantic, famed chimpanzee expert and anthropologist Jane Goodall said she sees something familiar in the GOP nominee. "In many ways the performances of Donald Trump remind me of male chimpanzees and their dominance rituals," Goodall remarked.
"In order to impress rivals, males seeking to rise in the dominance hierarchy perform spectacular displays: stamping, slapping the ground, dragging branches, throwing rocks," she continued. "The more vigorous and imaginative the display, the faster the individual is likely to rise in the hierarchy, and the longer he is likely to maintain that position."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Goodall added that she expects to remember one particular high-energy chimp named Mike while watching the upcoming presidential debates. Mike liked to kick kerosene cans as he walked so the noise would unsettle his enemies.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Federal judges block Trump citizenship order
Speed Read A second judge has blocked the president's order to end citizenship for children born on American soil to parents without legal status
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
DOGE official at Treasury resigns after racist posts
Speed Read Marko Elez's ability to access the Treasury's central government payment system has been rescinded
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Trump orders ban on trans female athletes
speed read The order directs the federal government to withhold funding from schools that do not comply
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Musk's DOGE gains access to Medicare, eyes FAA
speed read The billionaire said his Department of Government Efficiency will make 'rapid safety upgrades' to our air traffic control systems
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump: US 'will take over' Gaza, without Palestinians
Speed Read President Trump has suggested the US take ownership of Gaza, permanently displacing more than two million Palestinian residents
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Democrats try to stop Trump's USAID closure
Speed Read Trump and Elon Musk are attempting to dismantle the US Agency for International Development, a move congressional Democrats say is illegal
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China rattle markets
Speed read The tariffs on America's top three trading partners are expected to raise the prices of everything from gas and cars to tomatoes and tequila
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published