[phs318u]

> I see so many statements of this nature from him and I just can't believe that a person that successful can be so monumentally stupid.

Clearly, you're not a student of history then. The trope of folks being good at one thing and believing that this can be extrapolated to other things is based on an almost infinite history of humans doing this exact thing, from politicians, business leaders, engineers, scientists, artists and just ordinary folks. When you couple this with the amplifying effects of having the money to surround yourself with 'yes'-folks that continuously reinforce your 'brilliance', and having the power that results in politicians kowtowing to you, then it is incredibly difficult to break out of that supreme belief in your own genius. It is literally a trap as old as humanity.