But does he get money to act dumb or is he just dumb and then thinktanks give him money.

He gets money to say the line, and the more he says the line the more money he gets.

Now that he's figured out how to get paid to say the thing, slapping the feed bar as hard and fast as possible isn't dumb at all. It's a conditioned response that yields material benefits. He would be dumb if he said anything other than this.