'Aggressive chimp': Jane Goodall once said Donald Trump resembled a 'swaggering chimpanzee' during 2016 campaign

When Jane Goodall said Trump is like an ‘aggressive Chimp’: ‘More like a swaggering chimpanzee’

Jane Goodall, the renowned British primatologist who passed away on Wednesday, once compared former US President Donald Trump to an “aggressive chimp,” citing his campaign performances during the 2016 presidential race. The conservationist died of natural causes in California while on a speaking tour, the Jane Goodall Institute confirmed.

Trump’s chimp-like dominance rituals

Goodall, whose decades-long study of chimpanzees revealed that they possess individual personalities and share human-like emotions, said Trump’s behavior reminded her of male chimps and their dominance rituals.

“In many ways the performances of Donald Trump remind me of male chimpanzees and their dominance rituals,” she told The Atlantic.

She elaborated, “In order to impress rivals, males seeking to rise in the dominance hierarchy perform spectacular displays: stamping, slapping the ground, dragging branches, throwing rocks. 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.”

The story of 'Mike' the chimp

Goodall drew a parallel between Trump and a specific chimp named Mike, who maintained dominance by kicking kerosene cans along a road, creating confusion and scaring rivals. She highlighted the similarities between Mike’s tactics and Trump’s political style during debates against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump’s media-heavy campaign antics, including insulting opponents, attacking moderators, and boastful claims, mirrored what Goodall described as the “vigorous” and “imaginative” displays male chimpanzees perform to assert dominance.

After Trump won the 2016 election, Goodall reinforced her comparison, describing him as a “swaggering” chimp who shows strength and brawn but lacks strategic intellect.

A unique perspective from a primatologist

Drawing on decades of firsthand observation of chimpanzee social dynamics in Africa, Goodall offered a rare scientific lens to understand political behavior in humans. She highlighted that the competitive strategies and displays she observed among chimpanzees can resemble human tactics in high-stakes environments like presidential campaigns.