What happens when fools are elevated into highest power?

This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on April 1, 2026.

April Fools’ Day is a time for jokes and pranks and hoping your kids, partners or coworkers don’t take things too far. The goal is to have a few laughs while making it through the day relatively unscathed.

There are multiple theories about the origin of April Fools’ Day. Some suggest it began after France exchanged the Julian calendar for the Gregorian calendar, which moved New Year’s Day from April 1 to January 1, with not everyone paying attention enough to get the message.

One theory is an April Fool’s joke itself because a professor from Boston University told a journalist in 1983 it originated in the Roman Empire when jesters mocked Constantine. Although the Associated Press had to retract the story, this is still a theory believed by many.

Another theory connects it to the Feast of Fools, a Medieval parody of church hierarchy where the celebrants would elect fake bishops, archbishops and even a pope, or where the church hierarchy would reverse, with the church officers who held the most power being at the bottom, and those who held little power being at the top.

Whatever the true story, many of the theories revolve around the theme of power, which begs the question: What happens when fools are elevated into the positions of highest power?

Donald Trump is interviewed by Billy Bush of Access Hollywood at “Celebrity Apprentice” Red Carpet Event at Trump Tower on January 20, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)

Proverbs 10:23 — “Doing wrong is like sport to a fool.”

We should’ve known Donald Trump was a fool no later than October 2016 when the Access Hollywood tapes came out with Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women.

“I don’t even wait,” he gloated. “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”

Not only were women’s bodies treated like a ball he could grab and bat around, but he explained it away like an athlete would as “locker room banter.”

Proverbs 12:23 — “The mind of a fool broadcasts folly.”

One reason white evangelicals say they overwhelmingly voted for Trump in three general elections is they claim he “tells it like it is” and “speaks his mind.” He tends to do this on social media and in his speeches.

But while Trump may share his opinions in a blunt manner unlike any U.S. president we’ve had in modern memory, his followers don’t seem to recognize that most of what he posts is folly.

Similarly, Proverbs 29:9 says with fools, “there is ranting and ridicule without relief.” If that doesn’t describe Trump’s social media usage, then I don’t know what does.

In 2015, Donald Trump mocks a disabled reporter. (Screencap from NBC News)

Proverbs 26:12 — “Do you see people wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for fools than for them.”

Trump always says “There’s nobody who” does something like he does. In fact, VICE News put together a list of “24 Things Nobody Does Better Than Trump (According To Trump).

For example, he has said no one is stronger than him, has better toys than him, is better at the military than him, loves the Bible more than him, builds better walls than him, helps the disabled than him, fights for veterans more than him, promotes equality more than him, supports Israel more than him, is more conservative than him, respects women more than him, is tough on ISIS more than him, gets crowds more than him, understands nuclear horror more than him and — wait for it — is more humble than him.

Continue reading at Baptist News Global.