Burke: Take this news quiz to track your Trump I.Q.

Published 1:30 am Monday, October 30, 2017

By Tom Burke

Up on current events? Great. Take this little quiz and find out how you rate.

1: Puerto Rico is a:

A. Country.

B. State.

C. Territory.

D. Home of the Sharks, the Puerto Rican gang from West Side Story

2. The percentage of Puerto Rico’s population without electricity is:

A. 10 percent.

B. 50 percent.

C. 85 percent.

D. Everyone without the Energizer Bunny.

3. The number of people in Puerto Rico without water is:

A. One-and-a-half million.

B. Two million.

C. No one, it’s an island surrounded by water

D. Anyone not living near a damp, toxic, Superfund site

4. Donald Trump’s own grade for his Puerto Rican efforts of 10:

A. Was on a scale of 1 to 100.

B. His score on the par-3 11th hole at the Royal Isabela golf course.

C. How many rolls of paper towels he threw.

D. Was proof-less, self-aggrandizing political-puffery.

5. The difference between Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump:

A. Weinstein didn’t brag on tape about grabbing women by their genitals.

B. Weinstein was fired for what he did.

C. Weinstein isn’t president of the United States.

6. Number of Gold Star parents Trump called, after saying he called “virtually all” of them:

A. Twenty of the twenty-one.

B. Ten of the twenty-one.

C. He called (out) the Khans, trashing them for exercising the right of free speech their son died defending.

7. Proof of Trump’s great relationship with Mitch McConnell:

A. Trump told McConnell, “Get back to work.”

B. McConnell said Trump had no legislative experience and “Excessive expectations”

C. Trump said, “Can you believe that Mitch McConnell couldn’t get it done” (failed to repeal and replace the ACA three times).

D. Trump said, “McConnell’s failure is a disgrace.”

8. Trump said the Russians had no contact with his campaign. He forgot to mention:

A. Gen. Flynn, who lied about his Russian meetings.

B. Paul Manafort, who lied about his Russians meetings.

C. Son Donald, Jr., who lied about his Russian meetings.

D. Son-in-law, Gerald Kushner, who lied about his Russian meetings.

E. Jeff Sessions, who lied about his Russian meetings.

F. Trump himself who was signing papers to build a hotel in Moscow while he was lying about having no contact with the Russians.

9. When did Gold Star parent Chris Baldridge receive the $25,000 personal check Trump promised after his son, Army Sgt. Dillon Baldridge, was killed in Afghanistan?

A. Within a week of the President’s promise

B. Within a month of the President’s promise

C. Within four months of the President’s promise.

D. Not until a front-page article in the Washington Post outed his failure, the White House said, “The check is in the mail.”

10. True or False

The White House had no criticism when Gold Star widow Natasha De Alencar sent her Presidential call viral.

Chief of Staff Kelly and others listened in on the president’s call to Gold Star widow Myeshia Johnson.

The White House was severely critical of Myeshia Johnson because she shared her phone call with her mother and a life-long friend (U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson).

War hero John McCain was tortured as a POW.

President Donald Trump said (about McCain), “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”

Donald Trump, who attended NY Military Academy, asked for five deferments to stay out of Vietnam: four for college and one for bone spurs.

U.S. Sen. John McCain said, “One aspect of the (Vietnam) conflict … I will never ever countenance is that we drafted the lowest income level of America and the highest income level found a doctor that would say that they had a bone spur. That is wrong. That is wrong. If we are going to ask every American to serve, every American should serve.”

Answers: 1. C; 2. C; 3. A; 4. D, 5. A, B, C; 6. B; 7. A, B, C, D; 8. A, B, C, D, E, F; 9. D; 10. All true.

Scoring:

18 – 26 correct: You know the difference between real and fake news. You watch MSNBC, believe Rachel Madow, and read the Daily Kos.

10 – 18 correct: You’re half-paying attention, watch CNN, listen to NPR, and skim the New York Times.

5 – 10 correct: You like Kool-Aid and think you’ll get a tax break. You watch “Fox & Friends” and think tweets have content.

Zero – 5 correct: If Trump actually shot someone on New York’s Fifth Avenue you’d still support him. You watch Fox News, believe Alex Jones, listen to Rush Limbaugh, and read Breitbart.

Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.