Somebody gets it.

So, ummmm, according to the data, 98 isn't really lower. So, ummmm, I don't know. I guess I'll choose, NO. HA! That was too easy. Lol, bunch of people chose yes based on the feelz.

America is really 5 or 6 major countries rolled into one at this point, all with pretty different values and biases. Some of those countries are GDP rich, highly educated and upwardly mobile (Cascadia); others are less populated relatively speaking, economically stagnant, and often way behind in education funding (Deep South).

Those latter regions have had a continually outsized role in picking our President for the last 40 years, and, stereotypically speaking, their choices about politics have been reactive and defensive. They resent the "blue" states, and what they believe their more liberal politics represent. This isn't helped by the fact that these richer, "liberal" areas continually subsidize the poorer ones.

So when you ask "Are Americans stupid?", the answer should be "which ones?" An average across such a diverse (and artificially constructed) place is pretty meaningless. And many folks aren't voting based on what they think is the objective or long-term best choice; a significant number of Trump voters chose him as a way to "win" the decades-old culture war scorched-earth style, or even just to spite the competition.