I couldn't care less about this minor gaffe considering a live in a state where the "New York" Giants and Jets actually play.
2
The most correct tweet would have been congratulating Missouri and Kansas. It isn't as if Kansas has another football team so they're all chiefs fans.
3
Since whatever Trump says or does must be correct and in the country's best interest, then the team must be in Kansas City Kansas. Case Closed
3
I myself didn't know there were two Kansas Cities. Congratulations to the Chiefs, be they from Missouri or Kansas.
2
If Trump gets something so simple as where the Chiefs are based, how can he possibly know anything about Ukraine, or any other area in the news? A fifth grader has a better sense of geography, and this man makes decisions that affect millions every day not knowing in the slightest their location or history. Maybe it's time to have a geography and history quiz for presidential candidates, to weed out the dunces.
2
Thank you to this writer who was kind enough to explain why this isn't really an issue. I've crossed that physical state line a million times back and forth from Kansas headed north, and our kids would watch for the Missouri or Kansas sign, nearly missing it. We are not ignorant or uneducated people, but truly thought it was just one big city separated by a state line. That's the difference between being a local resident or just passing through. We are just super happy for the team, Kansas City Chiefs, for winning the Super Bowl this year, ending a 50-year streak. WOOT WOOT!
5
@Kristen I don’t think anybody is saying it’s not all one big metro where everybody in both KS and MO are fans of the “KC” teams. But when you say “Kansas” when referring to Kansas City and saying congrats to the state of Kansas, you are omitting over half the population including the primary and historic central city of the metro. You don’t think that would annoy you? I live in DC now, but I’m from KC. The state of Virginia or Maryland didn’t win the World Series last year, DC did which includes VA and MD. Why can’t people just say Kansas CITY instead of Kansas when referring to KC. That way nobody will know that you have no idea where KC is. People in Kansas suburbs like Overland Park, KCK and Lenexa are just as much a part of KC and people in Missouri suburbs like Blue Springs, Independence and Liberty. They are all suburbs of the primary city that houses the vast majority of the culture, history and amenities of the region, that city is KCMO. KC people are totally used this when they travel and learn to blow it off. As a KCMO native, I have been asked “what’s it like to live in Kansas” more times than I can count. But a lot of people do know that KC is based in Missouri or at least that it’s a bi-state metropolitan area and freaking president should be one of them.
4
Stable genius is as stable genius does.
3
I think the Chiefs should all go to Washington (the STATE) instead of DC for the fast-food ceremony 🤣
10
Had Trump first checked with his Secretary of State, who is from Kansas, he might have avoided the embarrassment, assuming he was embarrassed. Probably not. He could shout double negatives all day long down Fifth Avenue and he would only be all the more enthralling to his base.
5
Meanwhile, we'd all congratulate New York if the Giants won....
4
@tk23606 Not the same. NYC is the metro area the Giants represent which includes NJ suburbs.
The same thing would be to congratulate New Jersey for the Mets winning the World Series.
Nobody seems to get that the KS side is the suburban side of KC. The MO side is the larger urban side (although it has suburbs too).
2
@kc2dc No, it's not. The people of NJ pay for that stadium, the traffic that comes with it, and the headaches, so please don't attempt to justify it.
2
The stable genius tweeted.
For ordinary people not from the area, the confusion is understandable. For a stable genius, not so much.
Seems to me that the stable genius is neither.
2
The Stable Genius tweets again!
3
Maybe we here in East Rutherford, NEW JERSEY, should change our name to "New York City".
2
"But for at least one night, 148 years after Kansas City, Kan., was established, one New Yorker found himself fooled by the divide."
I think the writer means "Floridian", not New Yorker.
6
This article implies that Kansas City KS is a lesser light than KCMO. I did a residency at the University of Kansas hospital and went to Jimmy’s Jigger on Stateline Road, as described in the article, then lived in the Kansas City metro area. We never considered Kansas City to be exclusively in Missouri or Kansas, just a large metropolitan area that happens to extend over two states, both sides of which are equally fond of the Chiefs. While many of the more famous features (e.g. the Plaza) are on the Missouri side, the separation is only a matter of a couple blocks, and some of the richest neighborhoods in Kansas City are on the Kansas side. It’s an upscale, diverse, fascinating city with everything anyone could want, including the long-beloved & now (at long last champions!) Kansas City Chiefs.
6
Doesn't Sporting KC (formerly the Kansas City Wizards; Kansas City Wiz, respectively) of Major League Soccer (MLS) play in Kansas City, Kansas? And the gentleman quoted in the article said all the KC-related fun was found on the Missouri side! Clearly an uninformed opinion IMO.
2
@Trevor Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American professional soccer club based in Kansas City, Kansas, with its main office and historic location in Kansas City, Missouri.
Perhaps the gentleman in the article has a better understanding of KC history. You're both right.
@Hedonikos Sporting KC is a KC team just like the Chiefs and Royals. You don't congrat the state of Kansas or Missouri. You just say KC! Sporting plays in KCK, but they are still generally a KCMO team. Just like the Giants are still generally a NYC team.
I think most of the country thinks KCK is a suburb of KCMO. I know that sounds more logical, but it's not the case.
I spent several months in 1999 / 2000 working on a project in the K.C.K. area. I enjoyed my time there, particularly the general attitude I encountered among the residents. I remember there being more to do on the MO side, basically because of greater population and some casinos where I could play blackjack. The rivalry among the residents struck me as good-natured, not serious.
Congrats to KC on their Superbowl triumph.
4
I think we could cut Trump some slack on this one. Really, the man does so much that is egregious and folks are all mocking the man for a mistake many of us might make (I could not have said which KC the team played for, though I have actually spent a few nights in KC, MO). I bet half the folks making fun of Trump couldn't find Kansas or Missouri on a map.
5
@Anne-Marie Hislop
But Trump told us he was a stable genius.
The implication is that he's from the half of the nation that can find those places on a map.
By calling himself a stable genius, he is inviting us to hold him to a high standard.
It is just a matter of perspective. I have always known that there are two Kansas Citys. When you are originally from Boston, it doesn't make any difference what state the Chiefs are from.
1
Gaffe, yes, but no worse than Obama's comment that he visited 57 states. It's hardly up there with Ford's comment that Eastern Europe was not under the control of the (then) Soviet Union.
1
Having lived in both Kansas Citys and also Johnson County I can say from experience that it is all one. Go Chiefs!
6
W.C Fields, as Henry R. Quail in the movie, International House was grounded by fog and thought he had landed in one of the Kansas cities.
He at least, had the presence of mind to ask.
Mr Trump and his sharpie are redrawing the world as we knew it.
3
Apparently the Missourians like Kansas enough that they named their city after it, what should they be insulted about?.. I’ve walked across State Line Road from MO to KS... there’s no difference
2
@tim in seattle Did you read any of the article? I do't even have to read it, but it's pretty accurate. The country was migrating west. The city of Kansas City was established years before Kansas was a territory, let alone a state. Kansas City was named after the Kansas River which was named after the Kanza Indians. The state of Kansas came later, so you could say the state is named after the city if you really wanted to. Kansas City Kansas actually named itself Kansas City to take advantage of KCMO's recognition. KCMO was already becoming a good sized city before much at all was developed on the Kansas side. Today, the downtwon of the metro and all of the attractions and cultural assets are located in Missouri where the city originated. More than half of the 2.5 million people live on the MO side. The Kansas side is mostly suburban or industrial. The entire urban core is on the Missouri side. That's why it's annoying to KC residents when people say Kansas instead of Kansas City. You are describing a state, not a city and a state that doesn't even have the more important and well known portion of the metro. Not everybody will know the geography of KC. But the president should. It's a relatively major American city and he has been there many times.
6
Kansas City is named after the Kansas River, not the state of Kansas. The state of Kansas is also named after the river.
4
What most concerns me is when landing at KCMO airport, the pilot says, "welcome to Kansas!" Having lived on both sides of the state line and actually on State Line road, it is a seamless and cordial transition between our two states. I would prefer my pilot to know the difference!
6
Pilots do they same when they land in Hebron, KY: “Welcome to Cincinnati!”
One of the best and finest suburban cities in the country is a suburb of Kansas City, a dozen or so miles SSW of KC (Mo) —Overland Park, Kansas
7
Pompeo should force Trump to pick out Missouri on a map.
18
I’m from Kansas and didn’t realize they were KCMO. I also don’t watch football.
Our president must have flunked geography...among other subjects. No surprise.
16
As we drove home from watching the Super Bowl with friends I predicted that Trump would make this mistake on his tweet about the game. People with a greater respect for facts make this mustake all the time. It seemed obvious that someone so careless about reality in things much more important would confuse the two cities.
12
Trump doesn't know much about the attack on Pearl Harbor, Puerto Rico's status as a US territory but he does know the best people, till they confess.....then he's never met them.
21
“Everything that’s Kansas City is always in Missouri,” said Keith Williams.
Well not gas stations that work on cars, in my experience driving cross country in 1980.
3
I lived in St. Louis Missouri for 12 years - including the year of the I- 70 World Series I guess Donald Trump thinks Kansas won that one too.
Wonder if Trump will Invite them to the Presidential Palace?
3
Do we congratulate New Jersey when the Giants win?
9
I would assume that 99 pc of the Super Bowl viewers would not know which state the team was was from, probably because there's one in each state. If they even knew that. = For a good many of us who grew up on the other side of Missouri we didn't know or care. Still don't. By the way, I think every state has a Springfield. And I always wondered why there are so many "Newports" in the world. But did you know there were no earthworms in North American before 1492? No, it has nothing to do with Kanas City, either one of them.
1
@Mark Shyres Hawaii does not have a Springfield dude.
3
@Mark Shyres
Interesting point about there being, "no earthworms in North American (sic) before 1492". Except that it's wrong.
It's true that SOME of North America lost all earthworms to permafrost in the area north of the glacial boundary. But that's much less than all of North America.
If you have doubts, do a little research. (Perhaps start with https://www.smithsonianmag.com/ ). It's what a person would do who thinks before they spout out incorrect information.
5
Sorry to hear so many in Missouri don’t know their own state. I was born in Missouri and lived a year in Kansas.
1
The sad thing is no one is surprised by the ignorance of our commander in chief.
I'm more shocked by his disregard for the proper decorum during the playing of our national anthem. (US Code, Title 36, Section 301 (b) (1C))
14
Didn’t he want to build a border wall in Colorado?
15
To everybody that keeps saying "but there is a Kansas City in Kansas" Let me explain:
KCK is a suburb of KCMO. It's not even a "twin city", There is only one urban core city and it's surrounded by suburbs in both MO and KS. KCMO was a city many years before KS was a state.
The way president Trump said it would be like saying Congrats to the Phillies and the state of New Jersey for winning the World Series. Or Congrats to the Bengals and all of Kentucky! Sure, the KS side is very much a part of KC, but the core of the city, all of its attractions and cultural assets, the main downtown, the airport, the zoo, the amusement parks, union station, the concert arenas, the performing arts center....everything that makes KC what it is is on the Missouri side, including over half the metro population. So when people say Kansas instead of KC, that's leaving out the majority of city. The chiefs don't only belong to the suburbs of KC on the KS side. Now this something nearly all KC area residents are used to. When we travel, most people don't know that KC is primarily in Missouri. But most educated/well traveled people do. Trump should know this. KC is not NYC, but it's still a good sized important midwest metro of 2.5 million people that he has been to many times. He should know this stuff. KC people are insulted enough by ignorant people on the coasts and they are use to it. KC is a "blue" city, it's hilly, it's green, it's relatively urban. And it's not in Kansas.
14
@kc2dc KC is not in Kansas. But many of the people who work and play in KC do go home to Kansas.
I loved growing up in KC. I lived on the Kansas side but could walk to the state line. I went to a private high school in KCMO.
The way I think of KC is that it is beyond state partisanship. It's just KC.
5
He also has no idea why San Francisco is called the 49ers, so it all evens out.
16
Well, technically the 49ers play in Santa Clara, not San Francisco. But yes, I doubt Trump knows much about the gold rush, or history in general.
3
Who knew Mr. Trump was such a sports fan.
4
That's what the google's for grandpa. Can't even fact check himself before he pushes the button to millions. The eminent peach should have consulted his council before his unpresidented act. See previous covfefes.
15
This story perfectly shows why the democrats could lose the unlosable election again against an amateur politician when a Democrat US senator tweeted that the President of the US was "a cold stone idiot" because when he congratulated the super Bowl winners Kansas City, he did not check their home base was a few miles from the Kansas state border in Kansas City, a city which runs over both sides of the state lines. What a joke. Senator I suggest you focus on representing working people then they might vote for the democrats again.
1
@Silence
Thanks Donald.
3
@Silence
Senator McCaskill is no longer in office. She is a private citizen. She is free to criticize whomever she wishes.
9
You gotta love that stable genius!
5
Look for Trump to issue an executive order that changes the name of Kansas City, Missouri to Missouri City, Missouri. Trump will then be immediately ridiculed for not realizing that a town called Missouri City, Missouri already exists. At that point, Trump will issue another executive order declaring that the original Missouri City, Missouri will now be known as Fake News, Missouri.
8
God help us if Northwestern ever wins the Rose Bowl. The people of Seattle and Portland will be congratulated.
8
For those who know ( I lived there), Kansas City, Kansas is not even the largest city in the metroplex on the "kansas side". Overland Park, in Johnson County, just to the SW of KC, MO has more population and probably more Chiefs fans.
1
@USNA73 exactly. People keep trying to say that KC is like a twin city metro. It's not. KCMO is the core city and That city is surrounded by many suburbs in both MO and KS including larger ones like KCK, Overland Park, Olathe, Independence, Lee's Summit etc. Metro KC is like any other mid sized metro with a single central city and downtown and nearly all of the attractions and cultural assets and over half the population of the metro is on the MO side. It's all one big metro of 2.5 million people. Just call it "KC" and you are fine. You don't even have to specify Missouri. But just don't say "Kansas". Kansas City, MO was a city many years before Kansas was a state. The city came first and was named after the KS river, just like the state is. It's confusing, but it's not that hard and higher up politicians should know this basic info about a major Midwestern USA metro area.
1
I'm glad he didn't have a Sharpie with him.
9
Trump again, as he does daily shows how ignorant and misinformed he is. Clueless wonder and joke.
10
Add this to the long list of proof this president is just plain ignorant.
15
Will someone get this guy his G.E.D.?
15
I think he meant to congratulate KFC.
27
I wonder what the president of the Virgin Islands thinks.
4
So Trump is an ignoranus, nothing new there. Move along.
5
Think Trump can find Ukraine on a map?
13
@Ziggy
I will absolutely guarantee you that he can NOT.
8
@Ziggy: I joked earlier that Trump couldn't find New York on a map...
2
My 7 year old son often asks me to answer football questions and I direct him to ask Alexa. He has figured out to go straight to Alexa when a question arises. Some suggest Trump should have checked with his Advisors. These days even 7 yo kids know to ask Alexa or use google to find an answer. It’s incredible we have a commander in chief that can be outsmarted by a 7 yo with acess to the internet.
12
Considering who the “president “ is no it’s not.
2
But he is the President of the United States. Just awful.
8
Change the name of Kansas City, MO to Missouri City and there...problem solved.
Let Kansas keep KC. No more confusion.
2
@Phil But there is already a Missouri City, MO in the Kansas City (MO) area. tRump needs to do what my parents did (pre-internet). Have access to an atlas, dictionary and encyclopedia. Amazing what one can learn
2
I miss the good old days when misspelling “potato” signaled the end of one’a career in politics.
34
No big deal, right? Wrong! It matters because Trump has made a career of insulting others and questioning their intelligence for making the same kind of mistake.
Case in point: In 2008 candidate Barack Obama said "It's wonderful to be back in Oregon...I've now been in 57 states." In 2018 Trump actually tweeted about Obama's 57 states flub, saying "Can you imagine if I said that? Story of the year!"
5
I read the entire article and ended up more confused than I was before I began reading it.
So, Kansas City is in Kanza and not in Missouri?
Kansas. Isn't that where the famous American orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass currently resides?
10
So many geography pedants. Who knew? It's like the green room on Jeopardy. I've heard that mistake hundreds of times over the years. For those interested, Paris, Cairo, and Marseilles are in Illinois.
5
"...it bothers me that he’s ignorant"
Wow, Sara must be in an incendiary state 24X7 keeping up sufficient level of bother to cope with the "Stable Genius" and his constant gaffes.
1
the senate is expected to vote tomorrow to confirm the chiefs are in kansas
17
Why can’t Trump’s supporters admit that he is, in fact, not a very intelligent man. Crafty? Yes. Vicious? Yes. Intelligent? No way.
37
The ignorance of Trump is astounding.
17
I just can't...............whether it's this or the "airfields" captured in 1776 or the truckload of other really stupid gaffes, he's an embarrassment. That this guy is anything more than a golf course manager is astounding.
24
All seems a bit arbitrary anyway. The New York Giants and the New York Jets both play their home games in New Jersey, yet no one would get bent out of shape if Trump tweeted "Congrats New York" instead of New Jersey, which is the equivalent of what we are talking about here. Sports teams are identified with metro areas/regions, not a particular state.
6
@Zdebman It's not the same at all. You have it backwards. The Missouri side of KC is like the New York Side of NY or the PA side of Philly or the Ohio side of Cincinnati. The way president Trump said it would be like saying Congrats to the Phillies and the state of New Jersey for winning the World Series. Or Congrats to the Bengals and all of Kentucky! Sure, the KS side is very much a part of KC, but the core of the city, all of its attractions and cultural assets, the main downtown, the airport, the zoo, the amusement parks, union station, the concert arenas, the performing arts center....everything that makes KC what it is is on the Missouri side, including over half the metro population. So when people say Kansas instead of KC, that's leaving out the majority of city. The chiefs don't only belong to the suburbs of KC on the KS side. Now this something nearly all KC area residents are used to. When we travel, hardly anybody knows that KC is primarily in Missouri. But most educated/well traveled people do. Trump should know this. KC is not NYC, but it's still a good sized metro of 2.5 million people that he has been to many times. He should know this stuff or at the very least know it's a bistate city and his post showed he thinks the city out in western KS somewhere.
5
@Zdebman you’d think the self professed smartest man in the world would like know things
5
He definitely identified the Chiefs with a state.
1
Hey Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: Instead of harassing NPR reporters with world geography questions, why don’t you ask your boss if he can find Kansas City or Missouri on a map?
734
@Jay Orchard He won't because he needs his job.
42
@Jay Orchard
Trump rubbed his ruby slippers together, and there he was.
7
@Jay Orchard
This is priceless. Thank you.
What's next? A doctored map showing that Kansas City, Mo., is actually in Kansas?
566
@marks, Or that it might be in the path of the next big hurricane.
26
@hdtvpete Not many hurricanes in Kansas (or Missouri for that matter), but with a Sharpie, anything is possible! Maybe changing the course of the next tornado?
21
@marks Not needed since it already is.
4
Speaking as a native of Kansas City (Mo.), I don't think this article makes clear what the difference between the two sides is.
It's more helpful to think of the counties, rather than cities.
On the Missouri side is Jackson Co. (i.e. Kansas City, Mo., Independence, Mo., Raytown, Mo., and other suburbs) -- which has most all the things one thinks of when one thinks of "Kansas City": the downtown, the airport, the sports stadiums, the Country Club Plaza, the Nelson Art Gallery, the fountains, the famous BBQ joints, the old Pendergast political machine, Harry Truman, etc.
On the Kansas side is tiny Wyandotte Co. (which contains the "city" of Kansas City, Kansas -- which is really more like a very large town), and to its south is Johnson Co., which is today a sprawl of mid 20th-century suburbs (Overland Park, Lenexa, Olathe, Shawnee, Mission, Mission Hills, etc.) and their glass office parks. Older ethnic Wyandotte Co. to the north; newer suburban Johnson Co. to the south.
Kansas City, Kansas was historically the home of the Eastern European immigrants and African Americans who toiled in the stockyards and slaughterhouses below the bluffs on which Strawberry Hill (i.e. the modest "downtown" of K.C., Kansas) is perched. The urban CITY of Kansas City has always been solely on the Missouri side.
Also, in the early 20th century the Missouri side was wet and the Kansas side was dry -- and that made a big difference in determining which side would see more robust development.
20
Thanks for that, the information was super interesting.
2
Good explanation, David.
Good explanation, David.
I never saw the original tweet but now that the evidence has been brought to my attention I can see that Donald Trump made an unforgivable mistake. I think this might even qualify as a high crime and misdemeanor, so I hope Adam Schiff starts an impeachment inquiry soon.
I'll help out by drafting an article of impeachment:
"Abuse of Power. President Donald John Trump did abuse the power of his office by falsely extending presidential congratulations to the state of Kansas upon the victory of the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl when the Chiefs play their home games in the state of Missouri."
I'm sure that article of impeachment will get a majority in the House but I'm not sure it will get 67 votes in the Senate. Still, it's worth a try.
4
@John Smithson
Well that would undoubtedly play nicely to the overweening Poor, Poor Pitiful Me Victim Narrative presidency Trump has carved out for himself. *cue violins*
11
If only your candidate were half as clever as you.
5
@John Smithson I’d love to hear your defense of Trump and his mocking the disabled reporter, Serve Kovalski. Dumbing down his true high crimes and misdemeanors won’t changed the fact that he was impeached.
8
I live in KC metro area. This wouldn't bother me at all if the president didn't pretend to not be a "coastal elite".
He doesn't care about Missouri or Kansas outside of adding numbers to his electoral college victory or delivering him more GOP underlings to serve his every need.
30
Hunter Pence is about the nicest athlete in sports worldwide. HIM I am happy to forgive.
4
Legally, Kansas City is two cities in two states but it's really only one metro area encompassing both cities and their nearby suburbs.
4
I’’m a Canadian who lives 4 hours north of Fargo North Dakota and I know the Chiefs play in Missouri. I still can’t believe that no one is vetting his tweets. It’s farcical.
30
The Kansas City gaffe by the President may be forgivable. Not knowing the state where a professional football teams plays may be one of the reasons professional football and Trump's onetime ownership didn't work out. Besides all we really need to know is, can he locate Ukraine on an unmarked map?
8
The isn't that he didn't know in what city a sports team plays. The issue was that he didn't know what state a city was in.
2
@richard wiesner And I was going to ask if Pompeo really knows where Bangladesh is - if that NPR journalist correctly pointed out where Ukraine was on the map.
3
Since Trump has always only seemed to twist the truth or be ignorant or careless, at least as alleged by 'fake news', time for him now to get an executive order going to correct this confusing Kansas City, Missouri business and clarify once and for all for the sake of all of us. This way the situation on the ground will catch up with what he knows. After all with his sharpie intervention he did that with the hurricane report in the South East some time ago. And after all, as President he can do whatever he wants, can do no wrong and is beyond challenge from mere mortals.
3
Its a perfectly reasonable mistake for an average person to make. But we should not elect a person who makes such mistakes to be our president.
14
But Trump isn't a normal person. Stable geniuses must be held to a higher standard.
2
Let us not be distracted by this. Reasons for Trump being unqualified to be president are far more serious than this and, for the sake of the nation under the Constitution, these must not take a backseat for a moment. The half-time show has nothing to do with the game.
3
This is actually a nothing burger.
You can be rest assured that Trump and his reelection campaign have a complete understanding of US voting geography and will fully exploit that knowledge.
Keep your eyes on the prize, not the latest shiny object.
1
His campaign team, sure. But not Trump. Trump doesn’t have actual knowledge of anything.
4
A very stable genius!
5
This president's "Great State of Ignorance," which he represents "so very well," is not only jaw-dropping, but depressing. And he supposedly has a degree from Penn?
Better brace ourselves for when he wields his Sharpie on a U.S. map showing us where (he "thinks") the coronavirus is.
7
Trump knew the team from “real America” won, not the team from the left coast. No more specificity than that required!
4
Careful, red stater, or we will cut off all that revenue we send you.
1
Nice article. I attended grad school (Geography) at University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. But you don't need a Master's degree to know that the Chiefs play in MO. KC is a great town, lots to do and see, and extremely good people. Same is true in Kansas. Too bad that the Trumpmeister is so ignorant of geography, history, economics and, oh yes, common decency.
9
@Jayhawk KC is a fun city, green and not flat - not what people picture. I live in Lawremce, and we pointed out the bald eagles fishing in the river to some guy walking by. He was a recent transplant from Bulgaria to attend KU and he said he can't get over how friendly KC and Lawrence are. He kept being freaked out by people smiling and saying hi all the time.
2
This is just another drop in the ocean of insanity from this impossible individual. It isn't even news at this point. This is just where we all are, unfortunately.
8
Yes, we (most of us) know there is a Kansas City, KS, as well as a Kansas City, MO.
But Trump's fans really, really need to stop trying to pretend that what he said is anything but straight up ignorance.
And it's really not a big deal if some random American who lives far from Kansas City (either one) doesn't realize the geographic specifics.
But it really is a big deal when the President of the United States is just very very ignorant about a lot of facts.
12
As usual no one mentions the similar geography blooper in 2008 by Obama when he said "Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states".
1
You mentioned it, so let’s talk about it. Obama was on the campaign trail and misspoke. He meant to say “47” and not “57.” A few hours later, at another event, Obama brought up his mistake, saying “I’m so tired. Earlier today somebody on my staff told me I accidentally said we had been to 57 states instead of 47.” Despite his almost immediate acknowledgement of his mistake, it was repeated ad nauseum for years by right wing media as “proof” that Obama was ignorant. You still remember it today. Contrast that incident with Trump, who never admits anything he says is wrong, even going so far as to manipulate a map with a sharpie in order to try to prove he was right.
11
Maybe it's just me, but I think that Trump, actually, still is in Kansas.
1
On the other hand, it's not like the San Francisco 49ers play in San Francisco. (Santa Clara)
The true Kansas City is where the world-renowned bar-b-que is to be found, and it ain't in Kansas.
1
@jv Your VIP cards at Joe's, Jack Stack, R.J.'s and Blind Box have been revoked.
1
I bet if trump were given a map of the United States and was asked to find Kansas or Missouri, he would always point to Bangladesh.
11
A simple flick of the Sharpie can fix this. Standby for the new map.
4
A Two-State Solution.
Obviously.
10
“Local legend has it, Mr. Alvey said, that the founders of Kansas City, Kan., wanted to trick New York financiers into loaning money to their town.” When did “loaning” replace “lending?”
To Trump it makes no difference. It's whatever he says it is which is why Pompeo has a world map with no country names. Why confuse things with facts, correct information, knowledge and intelligence. It's so much easier making things up. So if you don't care about your name, state, country, etc vote Trump. He will never let you down with his blathering ignorance.
4
He'll still carry both states.
To the grave with the rest of his supporters. Let’s make America third rate again! Isn’t that how it goes?
3
Elitism: Knowing stuff about Kansas City.
6
Perhaps Trump isn't the first person to be confused by Kansas/Kansas City, MO, but he is POTUS, so shouldn't he at least know? Guess the bar is pretty sub-terrain for this guy. Perhaps someone should give him a blank map of the USA.
4
I wonder if Trump could pick out the US on a blank map. I am positive he could not pick out Ukraine.
8
The “Show Me” state better show him where they are.
5
but is just a across Kansas is not?
What a trivial discussion! Get a grip of yourselves.
Most Americans think that New York City is the capital of New York State.
1
Well trump was congratulating Kansas State !!!!
We lived there for 30 years in Overland Park, KS and worked in Kansas City MO.
Het did not bother to find out that Chiefs belong to two States Kansas and MIssouri., the two states of Kansas City separated by a State line.
Ask Pompeo id he actually knows that !
3
The Trump base doesn’t care that Trump is ignorant and lacks any sort of intellectual capacity.
It’s the bigotry that they admire and it keeps the base in his corner. It’s all about the bigotry and racial provocation.
8
What about the time he thought the wall between the US and Mexico was on the Colorado border.
6
Does SNLhave to pay Trump for material they can use on a weekly basis???
5
Yeah, but late Chief's owner Lamar Hunt lived in Mission Hills....Kansas. Here's what you really need to know. Cheaper gas Missouri. Better schools, Kansas. Airport, Missouri. Cheaper booze, Missouri.
The country's best BBQ can be found on both sides of the line and that's what really matters.
5
Could it be that all this apparent stupidity is just a fake? That these apparent gaffes have been found to amuse, appeal to, and distract the electorate, and are spoon-fed to it, one gaffe a week or a month? Just so that his supporters do not feel that Trump is in any way superior to them, do not feel that he is elitist, and feel that there is nothing of a college professor in him?
1
No.
2
Does anybody outside of KS and MS actually care?
I don’t think Mississippi cares at all. But Missouri does.......
5
@Sipa111 Missouri is MO. MS is Mississippi.
3
He's the President, can't he use his 'Magic Sharpie' to move the border (and prove that he was right all along)?
5
Unmatched intellect.
3
trump has the nerve going after a man kneeling during the anthem. Just look at trump last night.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article239918518.html
3
@lisa Mic drop! Every little detail about him reveal who he really is: a classless, self-serving man without integrity, ethics, or humanity.
2
Normally you would put it down to a simple mistake but this is a person who says Nambia instead of Namibia, Whales instead of Wales. I mean really...how dumb is he? It's pretty obvious why he's threatened U Penn with a lawsuit if his transcripts ever get leaked. Did he even attend U Penn? I mean everything about him is fake.
9
Now now, gentle Times readers. POTUS was just having a Sam Cooke moment:
"Don't know much about geography
Don't know much about...well, anything at all"
3
Hmm...wonder if he can find Ukraine on an unmarked map?
1
Make that a Floridian. All true New Yorkers now exactly whick KC is which.
22
@Flick Lives This native Floridian knows which is which -- and what's what. It's Donnie-Come-Lately the Carpetbagger who doesn't.
3
Three years and countless articles about understanding Trump’s supporters, and now we know:
He just makes them feel better about what they don’t know.
66
Again, a stunning display of geographical ignorance along with most of everything else about that guy.
25
Not to worry everyone, Sean Spicer is going to hold a news conference and clear this up.
Word has it he has photos to back-up Trump’s tweet.
23
@GW The photos involve a Sharpie and a map.
1
There is no excuse for this other than it's simply yet another indicator of just how shallow and ignorant he is. Did we not recently learn that he didn't understand what the USS Arizona memorial was commemorating? His lack of basic knowledge about all things is stunning, especially when you consider that he's in the White House.
58
@Thomas Payne Doesn't speak well of those who voted for him.
5
Fits with my recollection as a Kansas native. Residents of both states call the metro area Kansas City. The closer you get to the metro area the more the distinction matters...for directions and for taxes at a minimum. The only real sleight ever felt is when the wrong city is disparaged or given credit. The Chiefs belong to both states and the region in general.
14
@Scott Zwink Kind of... if KCK really wants to claim the Chiefs then they should have agreed to the stadium tax. Instead, KCMO had to foot the entire bill
5
@Evan There is that. Taxes for sports facilities are always tricky business. I've not been to a Chiefs game in KC since the Christmas Day playoff game vs the Dolphins in 1971 in Municipal Stadium. Best Xmas present ever.
@Evan, I don't actually disagree at all but I know so many Kansans who spend their money in KCMO. The pilgrimages from all over the state to Royals and Chiefs games, the hotels and the meals. It certainly brings in a lot of KS dollars.
1
Quick Melania! Get me my Sharpie!
75
Do you think Trump would be able to find either Missouri or Kansas on a map without labels?! How about Ukraine?
121
@Lagrange Not even Pennsylvania, who are we kidding.
3
I was sixteen years old in Casablanca when I learned from my English teacher that she was from Kansas City Missouri not Kansas city Kansas, but I would still give Mr. Trump a pass on this. He is an imposter
17
Yes Arrowhead's in Kansas City, Missourij which is a much bigger town than Kansas City, Kansas. And it's true that most of what KC's known for is on the Missouri side of State Line Road.
But the Chief's fan base is roughly equally divided between Missouri and Kansas. I'm sure most season-ticket holders hail from the wealthy suburbs of Overland Park, Leawood, and the like, which are all in Kansas.
The thing is, the twin Kansas Cities are well known. It's hard to imagine that any other legitimate candidate for President doesn't know of this dichotomy. Trump's been here at least a few times since 2015, too.
How ironic that he's the candidate favored here in the flyover states.
41
Here's another Missouri boggler; St. Louis is also on the border. You could grow up in Illinois and claim to be from St. Louis.
This whole thing is silly. As someone who moved away from the KC area, I'd say most people didn't know the Chiefs (and Royals) are located in Missouri.
5
@Gregory like many of us care about Kansas
So? That’s an excuse for the President not knowing?
3
@Gregory Most people aren’t the President of the United States, a man with a supposed degree from an Ivy League university and who has, by his own admission, “a very good brain”.
2
Perhaps Mr. Trump was acting in the public interest, letting people know that Kansas City also has representation in Kansas. Or, maybe he likes the people of Kansas better than the people of Missouri and wanted to make sure his 72 million twitter followers know. It must be something like that -- right? It can't possibly be that the guy running the greatest country on earth doesn't know where Kansas City is located....could it? Make America Smart Again -- in November!
36
Funny, the tweet I read said Missouri. Two different tweets? Or just fake news again!
2
@Candice Corder
the original tweet naming Kansas was deleted and the second tweet corrected the state
11
@Candice Corder The original was deleted and a replacement tweet made.
8
@Candice Corder He deleted the tweet and retweeted with the correction.
8
Just shows how sloppy Trump is. Unfortunately this lack of attention to details affects this Presidency in every action it undertakes.
25
Ex KC girl here.
I sort of accept that KC in Kansas stuff here in Australia, maybe a bit less in the US, but from POTUS? Yikes.
15
@Kim
I'm an Australian, living in Melbourne (not the one in Florida). This morning, when I told my 10-year-old about the tweet he smirked and said, "Trump doesn't know that Kansas City is in Missouri?'.
7
It's a good thing that Trump isn't in charge of bombing stuff! Oh wait...um, nevermind.
52
He could have easily asked an aide. But he thinks he’s a genius! When will everyone realize Trump knows nothing about the history or geography of this country?
39
@Elli "Trump knows nothing about the history or geography of this country?" ... way worse!!! "Knows nothing" could possibly be fixed; "doesn't care" not so much.
26
@Elli Don't be so sure Trump aides would know the difference, and that includes Secretary of State Pompeo. "Someone, quick -- bring me an unlabeled map of the Central Time Zone!"
5
@Elli Sadly, at some point due to all the real talent leaving, Trump will be the genius of the administration...now there’s a scary thought.
2
I don’t think I’ll ever stop being astonished by the number of people who don’t know basic US geography. Was I the only one who raced home every day from school with my big nerdy Trapper Keeper and Hello Kitty pencil case to watch Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Why are so many people lacking this basic knowledge? Kansas City Missouri should be as easy of a fact to recall as 2 + 2 = 4. But then again, in Alabama, when James Spann the Weather Man has tornado coverage, and he pinpoints exact street names to help people know when to take shelter, we have tons of people who don’t know where a street is in relation to their house, even though that street is literally two streets away. Why is this so hard? How do people go through life without knowing where they are in relation to everything else? Am I just a map nerd or?
Really, I would encourage Mr. Trump, and anyone else who has trouble with US Geography, to download the geography app called Stack the States. It would be immensely helpful.
22
@Corrie I'm glad y'all recovered down there in Alabama from that terrible hurricane the President warned you about last year.
3
Perhaps the strangest geography problem is the New Jersey football teams that call themselves the New York Giants and New York Jets.
At least Trump’s ignorance is broad-based and ocean deep. Everything about him is a superlative.
38
Well said....
3
The story is that Trump is ignorant of many things, including U.S. geography. Fixed.
13
Recently, Secretary Pompeo berated Mary Louise Kelly of NPR and demanded that she point to Ukraine on a blank world map -- which she did.
Meanwhile, the President of the United States of America doesn't know or care that he got the "wrong" Kansas City. It's not just the ignorance, it's the fact that he didn't even check.
But let's take this as an important object lesson. When he decides some day, in a fit of pique or Twitter rage, to fire nukes -- can someone please make sure he's shooting at the correct country? Trump being Trump, he might want Burundi and mistakenly blow Bermuda off the map...
61
@Clyde Or hit the wrong Georgia.
20
@Brookhawk The vast majority of republicans voters dont even know that there is a republic called Georgia
5
@Clyde Nah -- I think it's the ignorance, as pointed out in the story by the University of Kansas Medical School student. What a hit-the-bullseye quote that is!
3
I understand that not everybody would know this.
But the President of the United States?
C'mon.
He constantly demonstrates his ignorance in matters both important and trivial.
The only thing that allows such an ignoramus to stay in office is support from the senator of the great state of Pennsyltucky.
25
If Trump said Kansas City was in Idaho, these lemmings would believe it and defend him.
64
@Cousin Greg Yeah -- Make Kansas Great Again! Let's just hope he doesn't decide to build a wall around Kansas, especially not one of those collapsing walls of his that would end up in Missouri.
1
Hail to the Chiefs.
15
Football teams tend to represent a geographical area. Kansas City, Missouri is right on the border with Kansas, and in fact there is a Kansas City, Kansas right next to the Missouri Kansas City. The Kansas City metropolitan area includes both Kansas Cities as well as many suburbs in both states.
Same with the San Francisco 49ers, who represent the entire San Francisco Bay Area. Indeed, the 49ers play their games 50 miles south of San Francisco in Santa Clara, part of the separate San Jose metropolitan area, but still part of the Bay Area.
Several of us here in the San Francisco Bay Area cheered for the Kansas City Chiefs (although we were a definite minority -- people are gloomy here today), and I'm sure there were Chiefs fans across the United States. The Chiefs represented their fans, wherever they live, so very well. That's what Donald Trump meant.
Indeed, both teams represented the best of the United States, playing one of the better Super Bowls I've seen. Both teams were well coached and played their hearts out, on both sides of the ball. Both teams deserved to win.
7
@John Smithson
Oh, OK--so when Donald Trump congratulated a state the Kansas City Chiefs have never in their history played in, what he really meant is he was referring to "their fans, wherever they live."
Dude, Lionel Hutz could make a better argument.
19
@John Smithson
wha??
two teams can’t win.
trump though that the team was from kansas city, kansas. par for his course....
9
@John Smithson
Thanks for explaining what Trump meant.
8
The next time the New York Jets or Giants win the Superbowl, He, the Lord Almighty, should congratulate the State of New Jersey.
30
This is a fun subject.
+ Kansas City metro has 2.34 million people. That's two cities named Kansas City, and a bunch of suburbs. We all say we live in "Kansas City"
+ I like this bumper sticker: "Kansas City, one city/two states"
+ One of my friends, and I can't break him of this, says, "I'm coming to Kansas," and I do not know where he is going. KCK? KCMO? KC-metro somewhere, or someplace in the large state of Kansas?
9
@NotKidding
I don't think Trump could find Washington DC on an unmarked map.
22
A president who doesn't know the basics of US geography? No surprise! I had a professor for European history in college who made sure that the class knew exactly where events that we learned about happened.
15
I hope no-one ever takes control of Trump's phone and Twitter feed. It's one of the reasons "thinking" Americans get their impression of him as an overweight ignoramus, a belief that often gets reinforced by him many times on a daily basis. Twitter away Mr. President, we need for you to keep feeding the late show hosts with good material.
27
@Publius
Wait til Trump finds out there is a city called
Mexico in the state of Missouri.
He'll have the whole town deported.
29
@JM
Or surround it by a wall!
@JM And a town called Lebanon.
1
The president has pathological confidence. The kind that only comes from being a certain kind of narcissist. The sky is red, the earth is flat, there is no global warming, a hurricane is about to hit Alabama, Mexico once again promises to pay for the wall this week in Trump campaign headlines. Where does it end, really? There was no quid pro quo? Trump spoke the magical words, clicked his ruby red slippers three times, and the country is no longer in Kansas (City, MO, that is) any longer.
40
@Axe P.
Its the Kruger Dunning Effect. The paradox of ignorance.
15
The Wizard of Oops just didn't realize that he wasn't in Kansas anymore. Perfect!
22
One FORMER New Yorker, thank you very much!
16
The Chiefs have intense support from both sides of State Line Road - and from hundreds of miles in any direction. My guess is many of the Chiefs actually live on the Kansas side - like a lot of the prominent leaders in the Kansas City area always have. Kansas residents are totally generous in their support of both the Chiefs and the Royals. They don’t see the KS-MO distinction in regards to professional sports. I grew up on the Kansas side of the divide - but for the Chiefs and the Royals the divide simply does not exist. Wish our national politics were as blessed.
4
That's nice, but Trump still has an obligation to know which city and state he's talking about.
17
@Susan The city is in both states however. Hence the blurred lines referred to.
@Guillermo
I know that this is a silly issue compared to the extortion of another country for personal benefit, but if trump had the faintest idea of what you say, why did he forget to mention the Great State of Missouri?
3
Nothing that a few strokes of a sharpie can't fix.
86
Can Mr. Trump find Missouri on an unmarked map?
He already confused Alabama with the Bahamans.
Lets see him try.
66
@Phil haha I bet he couldn’t get more than 5 correct.
been there..,really...lived there. KC KS and Mo are identical in politics, but stops there. MO has one of the worst education systems and KS one of the best.
4
@dee
Hmmm. Well you must have attended school on the Missouri side, since your statement that the politics of the Kansas and Missouri sides of Kansas City are identical is no by stretch of the imagination, true. They're not. Far, far from it.
6
From KCK & it does not have one of the best education systems. It’s very rich neighbor, Overland Park does
5
@dee You must have been gone for a long time as KCMO has one of the most diverse educational options for students as anywhere in the country; public options representing multiple school districts, private, parochial, foreign language immersion schools, charter, magnet, home schools, all girl schools, all boy schools, to name a few. In addition, the city of KCMO does not run the KCMO School District as it is a totally separate enterprise which the city of KCMO has nothing to do with. Please get your facts straight.
4
I bet Trump could not find either Kansas or Missouri on a map!
33
If San Francisco had won there would be no congrats tweet at all.
Divider in chief
69
@YReader He'd have probably cooked up another tax increase for Californians.
8
@YReader San Francisco? Don't you mean Santa Clara?
1
Don't tell Trump there is a Manhattan in Kansas. His head might explode. Or he'll want to build a Trump Hotel there.
111
@hdtvpete
That is too funny!
4
@hdtvpete YEAH -- he probably thinks the atomic bomb was developed at Kansas State.
2
It was reported that Mr. Trump did not have anything but lunch with Mr. Pence on his calendar today. Perhaps his team should add a geography lesson onto his schedule.
32
I do not forgive him for this mistake. But regarding KC (either), I think it's more important to know where to get good BBQ when you visit. The short answer from this New Yorker is... Anywhere in KC (either).
6
@eric Jack Stack. Locations in both states.
2
@Greg My preference was Jack Stack for dinner, Joe's for lunch.
I will admit, as a Canadian, I had absolutely no clue that there were two Kansas City's, let alone one in Missouri.. I despise Trump, but really, anyone could have made this mistake.
8
@George
But the President of the United States should know better.
27
@George Hmmmm. POTUS isn't anyone. He's the smartest guy in the room...a stable genius.
9
Anyone in Canada maybe. But in the US most educated people know that there are two and that KCMO is the one that matters. I think it’s pathetic and embarrassing trump didn’t know and couldn’t be bothered to spend two seconds asking someone. So supremely confident is he, he made a moronic mistake in front of 70MM people. And he will lie about it.
6
BREAKING NEWS:
Bolton is willing to testify that the KC Chiefs play in Missouri but McConnell said no way will he allow it.
81
Does Trump know the difference between Iran and Iraq?
40
Just imagine if the 49ers had won. Donald Trump might have mistakenly congratulated San Francisco, while the 49ers play their games 50 miles south in Santa Clara, part of the San Jose metropolitan area.
4
Except that the Niners have played in San Francisco their entire existence up until a few years ago, when the moved to Santa Clara (which is also in California--same state, in case you're unaware). The Chiefs have never played in Missouri in their entire existence, so congratulating the state of Kansas is incorrect, no matter how many false analogies his cult attempts to make.
Nice try, though--really.
13
Cousin Greg, yes, I know Candlestick Park (now demolished) and Levi Stadium are both in California. I went to games in both places. The former is minutes away from my home and the latter an hour.
I'm not trying to make an analogy between the location of the two teams. I'm just trying to make light of the error and laugh it off as a silly mistake.
At least, I see it as a silly mistake. Clearly, you don't. I'm starting to think there is such a thing as Trump Derangement Syndrome.
1
it's all considered the Metro KC area btw the 49ers do not play in SF
4
@J Alan
But they do play in California.
12
Imagine a terrorist attack on Kansas City, MO and Trump orders all available aid to Kansas. There’s no one who can legally challenge that order. This is a guy who told the PM of India it was a good thing his country didn’t border on China. Ignorance has consequences, is it too much to ask that we should have a competent president.
44
@T Herlinghetti not too much to ask at all. Remember when Dan Quayle misspelled potato and it was the end of the world? That seems like a thousand years ago.
6
@T Herlinghetti If your scenario played out they would be in the same place! LOL. Check a map.
1
So, who from what Cabinet department is going to have to explain how Mr Trump was correct, similar to when he said a hurricane was going to hit somewhere it wasn't.....
11
Meh, I doubt most Americans would have gotten it right
@James But he's a genius! Just ask him.
12
@James Sadly, Donald Trump IS like many Americans. I'm hoping he's not like most though.
9
@James but Trump has BEEN THERE. Most people who have been to KC would get it right.
6
His bar is so low no one is shocked.
Trump’s supporters find it endearing, his detractors see confirmation.
It’s almost not news.
293
@Victor exactly. This sort of gaffe is proof that he’s relatable to them. They didn’t pay attention in school and he’s basically saying school schmool who needs that book learnin’? It’s hip to he ignorant in Trump world. Just fix it with a sharpie, no biggie!
38
@Victor
Let's hope that he doesn't mistakenly aim the nukes intended for Moscow (Russia) at Moscow (Idaho... or any of the other 19 'Moscows' located in the US)!
17
@PhilO:
Moscow will be saved for obvious reasons.
Don't know about Cabool, MS. . . or Lahore, VA, though. . .
12
Nancy and Adam should most definitely convene an impeachment inquiry based on the Presidents obvious criminal intent to say that the Chiefs play in Kansas. This would be another wonderful way to spend Americans tax dollars and continue to make fools of the House of Representatives.
1
@John Gilday Trump makes a fool of himself far too frequently for any Dems to try to get in the way. And oh, by the way, withholding the funds from Ukraine was against the law!
27
@John Gilday
I know that this is a foolish issue compared to the extortion of another country for personal benefit.
But if you are worried about your tax dollars, you should take a look at the golfing expenses from your president since he took office.
3
Trump being a president should have known better, I was on a country wide cultural tour with Tibetan Buddhist monks from India and we were traveling from Atlanta to Seattle on road, we decided to call it a day when we reached Kansas and we checked into a hotel in Kansas City. Imagine our surprise when “ Welcome to Kansas “ roadside sign greeted us next morning when we passed Missouri border :)
5
If Kansas State University were to win a championship I suppose the President would congratulate all the New Yorkers and tell them that all five boroughs are proud.
9
No, it's not important, against all the OTHER thousands of things that Trump is ignorant about. But it IS a little funny.
Someone should ask him if he can name the state that Puerto Rico is in. We already know he doesn't seem to realize WE share a country with them.
23
This really wouldn't matter if Trump, since his running, hadn't been the one who constantly and loudly mocked others for their geography goofs.
18
"I love the poorly educated"... Perhaps, trump was referring to himself, no?
41
the opposite extreme of trump motor mouth is obama who has so overly concerned with gaffing, his speech was strained and it was painful to listen to him. I rather have trump motor mouth regardless whether there are mistakes and his mouth operates faster than his brain - the reality is it is far more communicative, plus the vast majority of trump's sentences are correct.
1
Stable genius.
15
Imagine the chaos that would ensue if he ever had to go to East Chicago, Indiana, or East St. Louis, Illinois.
6
@cds333 I wonder if he knows that Manhattan College is actually in The Bronx.
5
I live in the Kansas City area and it's easy for us to tell the difference between KCK and KCMO. Kansas City, Missouri is where they had 151 murders in 2019.
2
@Stan There were 176 murders in KS in 2017...a 41% increase! What is your point?
3
"You represented the Great State of Kansas and, in fact, the entire USA"
The game was the USA against San Francisco? Does he also not know that San Francisco is in the USA?
48
Polaris, of course Donald Trump knows that San Francisco is in the United States.
Several of us here in San Francisco cheered for the Kansas City Chiefs (although we were a definite minority -- people are gloomy here today), as I'm sure there were across the United States. The Chiefs represented their fans, wherever they live, so very well. That's what Donald Trump meant.
Indeed, both teams represented the best of the United States, playing one of the better Super Bowls I've seen.
@Polaris California was deported long ago. Too bad we still have to pay taxes to this garbage regime.
7
Was this another example of Trump being a very stable genius?
8
Historically, Kansas City, Kansas has been more working class, and had more people who would likely identify as Latinx and eastern European. When you get your great Mexican food, you are likely in Kansas. I would say KCK is like Queens in many ways.
Kansas City, Missouri has the downtown with some tall buildings, our jazz, and our mafia ties. The jazz and the Negro Leagues baseball created largely by our African-American community are our treasures there. KCMO is mroe like Brooklyn and the Bronx.
Sadly there are also suburbs, which are our Staten Island.
; )
No place is Manhattan.
I moved from KC to NYC and was always touched when people told me they knew it was in Missouri.
3
@Elizabeth Schurman The World War One museum is really great, and the fine arts museum has its own Caravaggio painting !!
3
@Darold Petty The Nelson Atkins Art Museum is world class. Everyone should visit.
2
The Kansas City Chiefs have never played in Kansas. It was an ignorant tweet, and defending it, as if it’s remotely correct, is ludicrous—but not at all surprising from this fool’s cult.
38
I bet a lot if not most of the Chiefs' players live on the Kansas side of the state line, where I lived until I got out of high school. The metro area (at least when I was there) included 5 counties, 3 in Missouri, 2 in Kansas. When people ask me where my accent came from, I just say "Kansas City," since the state line is just a road and doesn't really divide things up in reality.
This tempest in a tea cup is just another example of the Sec. of State not doing his job of preventing the prez from looking stupid.
4
I’m not a Trump fan but having grown up in Kansas City, Kansas it’s completely understandable how anyone not from the area would make the mistake. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve flown into the Kansas City (Missouri) airport and heard a flight attendant say “Welcome to Kansas.”
33
@Tom ,
Granted, but he’s the president. He should know his geography.
51
@Tom Might be understandable for a flight attendant but not for the President of the United States.
41
@spicoli Why? The president should know all things? Maybe you don't understand why Trump appeals to the masses unlike most politicians who resemble almost nobody they know in their lives.
When I speak to loved ones and they don't know things or make errors I don't think they are idiots. We correct each other and move on. Or not and move on.
Where does it say that Presidents must know everything? It might be fun to play gotcha but that's a stretch to say they are all knowing. I believe Obama misstated that there are 57 states.
4
This is the same president who never misses an opportunity to sneer at so-called coastal elites who supposedly don't know anything about the Midwest or its residents, and also the same president who never misses an opportunity to tout his flawless genius on every topic known to humankind.
361
Trump thought he was buttering up a red state constituency at the expense of some Californians. Instead he revealed that he never cared enough about Kansans to learn a fact about their state.
61
@Ivan:
Reagan was the same tottering old fool.
He came to Binghamton, NY in 1983 or 84 (actually nearby Endicot where a big IBM facility was) and stumbled and mumbled through a speech where he kept on calling the area "Bingalum."
It took on a life of it's own for a loooong time, including getting used in TV advertisements and radio shticks. The local college campus radio didn't use the word Binghamton for about 6 years, always Bingalum. Made me giggle every time.
Hillary Clinton totally butchered the upstate whistle stop of Skaneateles, NY while there too. Same effect.
Politicians, geographically challenged bunch for sure.
I'm sure they all could find K Street on a map of DC though.
20
When most people who don't live in the region say "Kansas City" they don't mean Kansas City, Missouri or Kansas City, Kansas. They mean the entire metro area, which has numerous municipalities. Just as people who don't live there use "Los Angeles" or "New York City" to refer to a metropolitan area.
7
Still not explaining how Trump congratulated Kansas and not Missouri
8
If you include suburbs, then Kansas fans of the Chiefs almost certainly outnumber Missouri fans. But who cares? Both states won.
The article fails to point out that KCK has made a big comeback, and now is home to the city's third-largest professional sports team, MLS's Sporting Kansas City. It also has a NASCAR track that it outfoxed KCMO to acquire.
But again, the metro area is one, the only tweak to this article being that Missourians increasingly are driving to KCK to shop and watch pro soccer.
4
@cortezthekiller
It's usually a boondoggle to acquire such sports infrastructure, as the cost are usually borne by the taxpayers--whether or not they are fans of the Sports franchise in question. Kansas City, Kansas ought to have been pleased to have missed out on the shakedown.
A himble proposal: Why not rename the Kansas town "West Kansas City", to reduce the ambiguity.
Usually, I might have sympathy for the Jayhawk contingent, but not so much in this case.
I could name a hundred major gaffes by Trump that have significant consequences for people everywhere. He should not be chided for the innocuous mistake of misplacing Kansas City. Give me a break.
3
@Milton Lewis
I tend to agree. I’m much more troubled by a recently revealed anecdote describing how he wanted to understand the military event that occurred in Pearl Harbor when he was visiting there.
14
@Milton Lewis He has been quoted speaking to an Indian delegation at the White House "it's not like you share a border with China..." Our intellectually in-curious president deserves derision.
23
If the DNC has not compiled all of the stable genius bloopers for campaign adds, they are missing a opportunity.
46
@quarter
Tim Apple for sure.
7
We ridicule the President's knowledge of geography, but we ignore his corrupt behavior? We joke about the lies he tells at his rallies, but we ignore what he is doing to our environment. We wonder if he has lost mental function when he jumbles words, but we don't raise a peep about his merciless treatment of the vulnerable people in America. The impact of this man on our democracy is not being accurately chronicled by the media.
114
@JMF
What media have you been reading? I've been reading stories about all of the above for three years.
5
Trump has never been great at geography. During the first three months of his Presidency, he repeatedly flew to Seattle because he thought the White House was in Washington.
40
A minor error that was quickly corrected. President Trump whipped out his Sharpie and has already realigned the borders of the two states to move Kansas City, Missouri, to its rightful place in Kansas, where he knows it belongs.
There. Fixed. Fake News.
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@Alan Sohn Yes, and he will have no trouble getting the Senate to ratify the change.
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@Alan Sohn
Same map that has Colorado bordering Mexico?
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I am sure it was helpful to 98 and a half per cent of your readership to point out that Kansas City is a city in Missouri--the Kansas side is just a Johnny come lately---still, neither KCMO or the Kansas side or anything down there is all that great. Congratulations to the Chiefs, rah rah, but that is one deeply troubled metropolis and nothing is up to date down there anymore.
The museum in Kansas City beats the one in Omaha. There is also the opera and the symphony, but I wouldn’t expect folks from Omaha to care about such things. Rah rah.
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@Doug
Doug? What's the matter??
@Larry D So easy to blast people from another state. There goes Kansas City. There goes Omaha. Rah Rah Rah.
I, a Canadian, would probably make this kind of mistake. Trump, the President of the United States, probably shouldn't be making this kind of mistake.
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These town names can come back to bite a bit.
For the record Scarsdale, New York was not named in honour of a leper colony founded by Mother Theresa.
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A president who doesn't know his own country. No wonder why our international policy is topsy turvy.
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When will Donald suspend the funding - and termination of all board members - for the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to celebrate his ignorance ?
There must be some Presidential revenge !
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The New York Jets are in New Jersey. I imagine the President knew that.
For those of you from the flyover states, just remember that our President doesn’t really know all that much about our area. And I doubt he really cares. He wants our votes, so he says what he thinks we want to hear. But little gaffes like this one show just how little effort he has put into getting to know what matters to us.
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@S to be fair...no one outside of the fl over states cares about the flyover states. get over it.
@brad Lot's of us care a lot! They contain most of the swing states that elect our President!
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"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Missouri anymore."
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@Pete HA!-Funnier
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Ironic- because the moment Trump was elected- I said to my dog "Toto-we aren't in Kansas anymore"
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The scary thing was that more than one Fox commentator defended the President's mistake as true. This President can do no wrong, speak no falsehood while he is MAGA. For too many, Trump has become a cult leader.
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@Joseph Hanania Actually, though no fan of the president, I would have to say he was half right. Most Chiefs fans live in neither Kansas City but in the suburbs on the Kansas side. Plus, there IS a Kansas City, Kansas, and this is the only place in the nation where two cities with the same name stand side by side. The Super Bowl was a victory for Kansas and Missouri.
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@Joseph Hanania And you just hit the nail on the head. Hey, he made a mistake (and he's not the first one). But, he has always been very quick to point out others mistakes, often in terms that depict them as "sleepy" or "stupid" or some other such adjectives. But when he makes a mistake such as this, rather than calling it what it is, his "cult" of followers somehow try to defend it as though he wasn't wrong in the first place. It's truly amazing that in this great country of ours, there are still so many who can be so bamboozled so easily. Too bad PT Barnum missed this bunch!!
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@Cortez
No. He was fully wrong. And no President should be excused for being “half right”. This is how low we’ve sunk. We can excuse the president for being almost accurate? We don’t accept this from school children, so why should we accept it from the President?
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When I was about eight my brother told me that there were two cities named Kansas City. He told me that the one in Kansas was quite inferior to the one in Missouri. It was not until I was approaching retirement that I realized (was told by an amused person) it is the same city in two states.
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And the Twin Cities are Minneapolis and Indianapolis.
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@Yeah; or Minndianapolis. You will rarely hear "Twin Cities", or "Minneapolis-St.Paul" from an airport gate agent. Your destination is always announced "Minneapolis". I do know how to pronounce the R-kansas River or Arkansas River depending on what state I am in at the time.
@Yeah And their cousin Annapolis.
Trump didn’t know because the subject doesn’t interest him. That is, Americans, generally.
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To Trump, having a city in Missouri called Kansas City is as inconceivable as having a city in New Jersey called New York. Oh wait there is such a city - West New York.
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@Jay Orchard wonder if he knows there is a California in Pennsylvania. South of Pittsburgh.
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@Jay Orchard, how about Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania?
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@Jay Orchard Most people who are not from the city would classify Westchester and Jersey City as part of "New York City" too.
I never thought I’d defend President Trump until now. Or Hunter Pence, who has a scary surname. Six hundred years ago most of earth’s inhabitants subscribed to the geocentric theory that earth was the center of the universe. I guess folks from Missouri believe that a city with another state name as its prefix is universal knowledge. Anyway, I’m thrilled for Andy Reid and the team.
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It doesn’t need to be “universal knowledge”. It just requires “look it up”.
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@Larry D And I tiny bit of curiosity.
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My delayed wish for this year is a President with minimal geographical skills.
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He is no longer a New Yorker. In fact, he is a "Florida Man". Quite apt.
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"…one New Yorker found himself fooled by the divide."
On 10/31/19, The New York Times reported that Trump has now legally declared himself a Floridian. I wouldn't normally nitpick, but the whole discussion is about the location with which a team--or a president--is technically connected. 
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Coming soon: I see trump with a map and a Sharpie 'splaining "real" geography to us, followed by Wilbur Ross chastising them gol-durned cartographers.
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Donald Trump continues to be a national disgrace.
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And he doesn’t look too good on an international basis either!
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and people actually think this president is intelligent.
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Quick, someone get Trump a sharpie so he can move the state line.
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Waiting for this from Trump: “ I don’t know Kansas City. I don’t know anything about Kansas City. I may have been there but I have been to many cities.”
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And no one is smarter than him
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Since when do we get our geography lessons from Trump? He probably can’t even find Ukraine on a map.
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@Peter - yes, and Trump probably thinks Washington DC is a different voltage than the AC everyone else uses.
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Embarrassing and public stupidity definitely should be added as a grounds for impeachment or Article 25 removal.
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If Obama said that...
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It's a forgivable mistake... for the President of Ukraine!
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Congrats to Missouri’s great ex-Sen. Claire McCaskill, who summed up the President in three words: “stone cold idiot.”
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@LIChef. Where's the "little thumbs up" symbol, so I can vote "Wow"!
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@LIChef
Sounds good, I know, but she's no longer in office and he's still in the White House. Just saying.
@August West let's hope for not much longer
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Everyone loves a Presidential Ignoramus.....or at least 35% of Americans do !
Sad....and pathetic.
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Ha! The gasbag Pompeo challenged an NPR reporter to point out The Ukraine, which she did. Then said gasbag's boss fails to locate a major American city in the right state. Media 1, administration 0.
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@PJM I think since this was an unforced error it's Media 1, administration -1.
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My taxes support the Chiefs' and Royals' stadiums in Missouri. If those in Kansas City, Kansas would like to help pay for these facilities, then they can claim the Chiefs and Royals too.
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@Slr I'd be much happier supporting and cheering for a sports team when somebody else is footing the bill for their housing.
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@Slr kaufman and arrowhead are funded by both cities, bro. get educated
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@delbert You can believe that if you want to, but that doesn't make it so. Wikipedia has this with links to references to the contrary: "The Truman Sports Complex was built and owned by the government of Jackson County and managed by the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, which is a State of Missouri agency.[2]" Paying your $30-60 for game day parking, and paying taxes on your beer in the stadium doesn't give you ownership.
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As someone who was 2 when the Chiefs won their first Superbowl and 52, when they won their 2nd - and a life long resident of the area, I have been explaining KC is in MO to many for many years.
I do cringe a little when *insert rock star front man here* says, "it is great to be in Kansas", while playing a gig at the same place the Chiefs call home, but its no big deal.
When the President of the country does it, it's little embarrassing.
Go Chiefs.
Note: Kansas City Chiefs, Royals, the airport, all downtown tall buildings, the opera, ballet and symphony are all in KCMO. A good number of people live in Kansas and work in MO and Kansas has some of the nicer suburbs in the metro.
If you have not been to the area, you should come. It might surprise you a little and game-day at Arrowhead for the Chiefs is a great time.
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@Kevin K But KCK is gaining traction. That's where people from KCMO go to watch professional soccer, to shop at the Legends or to see a NASCAR race.
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The fact that the President is geographically clueless simply mirrors his mastery of other subjects....foreign policy, trade, civility, history, science....its a long list.
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@Dennis W
Trump lives in Washington but I bet he doesn't know that the Washington Redskins play in Maryland, and that Washington National airport is in Virginia.
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The only thing that needs to be said here is that trump is, like most Americans, geographically impaired.
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@Stephen Do not compare trump to anyone and I expect my president to know something about the geography of the country leads.You can't fix stupid.
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None of this is so hard. Newsflash: New Mexico is not in Mexico, New York is nowhere near York, and New England is not part of the UK.
It's just a matter of understanding that the English language (and place names in particular) can have a bit of ambiguity, so one just needs to pay the smallest amount of attention.
Oh wait -- is that too much to expect from our President?
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O Lordy, we all know by now that what President "L'etat C'est Moi" Trump says--IS. So Chiefs are now officially playing for Kansas. Building Stadium no big deal--it will Boost his employment numbers with Construction Workers needed.
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On Trump’s Kansas City error, well unfortunately for Kansas City it is a common error. After all, the two cities are across an intersection from one another and are the same metro area. if Kansas City, Missouri wants to be distinguished by everyone from its neighbor in Kansas, maybe it should change its name to Missouri City. Oh wait, Missouri City is in Texas.
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@Bridget P
The two cities are across the street from each other. On State Line Road, the houses on the east side of the street are in the State of Missouri, and the houses on the west side of the street are in the State of Kansas.
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Its obvious Donald Trump watched the Wizard of OZ way too many times.
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@Joe Berger Yet somehow he didn't learn the lesson of the man behind the curtain!
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That’s funny!
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Not a big deal. Trump didn't really make a mistake - ask him. BTW, I heard he's looking to move the KA-MO border east a few miles...
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But can Trump find Kansas on a map?
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@ Dave
Or Missouri for that matter?
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@Dave Maybe the Secretary of State, who represented Kansas' 4th District in the US Congress can show it to him on a map... Right after he shows him where to find Ukraine on a map.
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@Dave
No.
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By presidential decree: Kansas to annex Missouri.
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I'm waiting for a map with a sharpie bubble showing how yes indeed, Kansas City is now part of Kansas because dear leader is never wrong about anything.
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@Mike
A friend just sent me such a map!
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