- In 2016, Jane Goodall compared Donald Trump's behaviour to male chimpanzees' dominance rituals
- She noted Trump’s displays resemble chimpanzees' efforts to intimidate rivals
- Goodall pioneered the longest-running wild chimpanzee study in Tanzania
Renowned chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall died on Wednesday at the age of 91. Today, a day later, one of her old interviews, in which the famed primatologist compared US President Donald Trump to chimpanzees, has resurfaced.
In 2016, during Trump's first presidential race, Jane Goodall had drawn the comparison, remarking, "In many ways the performances of Donald Trump remind me of male chimpanzees and their dominance rituals."
Goodall, who spent years studying chimpanzees, appeared to make the connection while explaining the animal's pursuit of dominance. "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," she told the Atlantic.
Goodall's remark made waves during the US election campaign.
Later, during an interview in 2022 with MSNBC's Ari Melber, Goodall stuck to her words when reminded of her past comments.
The host, Melber, played a montage of Trump hugging and kissing the American flag, and calling himself a "perfect physical specimen."
"What do you see there?" Melber asked Goodall.
Goodall chuckled and replied: "I see the same sort of behaviour as a male chimpanzee will show when he is competing for dominance with another."
"They're upright, they swagger, they project themselves as really more large and aggressive than they may actually be in order to intimidate their rivals," Goodall added.
When asked if humans can display this kind of behaviour in a gradual or healthy way or in an extreme way, Goodall pointed to the discord in America.
"Looking at it from outside, I see that the divisiveness that's being created in America is a tragedy and it is a tragedy that can have a ripple effect around the world."
Who Was Jane Goodall
Goodall was known for her ground-breaking studies of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, which changed our understanding of our relationship with the rest of the animal kingdom.
"This transformative research (launched in 1960) continues today as the longest-running wild chimpanzee study in the world," reads The Jane Goodall Institute's website.
She pioneered and sustained the Jane Goodall Institute's community-centered conservation initiatives across chimpanzee species for over four decades.
Goodall "died peacefully" in her sleep in Los Angeles, where she was on a speaking tour, the institute said.
