Trump and Clinton: Enemies at the Podium, Cousins in the Family Tree

Politics loves drama—but history’s got jokes. Turns out Donald J. Trump and Hillary Rodham Clinton, the two titans who went for each other’s throats in 2016, are distant cousins. Yup—genealogists traced both bloodlines back to John of Gaunt, a 14th-century English duke, and his partner Katherine Swynford. That makes them something like 19th cousins—basically “so distant you’d need a telescope to find the relation,” but cousins nonetheless.

The Family Feud You Didn’t Know You Were Watching

Imagine Thanksgiving dinner with that lineage: one side hurling “Lock her up!” chants, the other passing mashed potatoes with an eye roll. The idea that America’s most vicious political brawl might’ve been a medieval family reunion fight is peak historical trolling.

Why It’s Not That Shocking

A lot of powerful American families trace back to the same handful of European nobles—colonial intermarriage and tight social circles mean these overlaps are everywhere. Still, the optics are hilarious: two supposed outsiders squaring off…while secretly sitting on the same ancient family tree.

The Irony, Served Hot

For all the campaign rhetoric about walls, emails, and “draining the swamp,” the 2016 election was, in a very distant way, a family squabble over the keys to the kingdom. Medieval royalty would be proud.

“In the end, Trump and Clinton are probably somewhere sharing a greasy slice, laughing at their 19th-cousin drama—while the rest of us peasants argue over their leftovers