Former President Donald Trump’s speeches in recent days have been littered with odd gaffes, bouts of confusion and verbal trip-ups. At a time when President Joe Biden is rightfully being scrutinized for his mental acuity, Trump’s missteps should raise similar questions. But due to his political style as a clownish demagogue, Trump’s garbled attempts at communication tend to get relatively little attention.
In just the past few days, Trump once again confused Biden with former President Barack Obama: “Putin has so little respect for Obama that he’s starting to throw around the nuclear word. You heard that. Nuclear. He’s starting to talk nuclear weapons today.” At another point, Trump strangely struggled to say Venezuela. He also seemed at an awkward loss for words when complaining about retiring Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, declaring that “we want to get Romneys and those out.” At one rally Trump claimed that “82% of the country understands that it was a rigged election.” That isn’t true — but the number tracks with what very similar proportions of Republicans have reported in past polls. To top it all off he claimed, as he’s done with other mix-ups, that his repeated recent mix-ups of Republican former Gov. Nikki Haley and Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California were done “purposely.” (The video footage suggests otherwise.)
The primary reason Trump gets a pass on mental acuity is that his whole persona entails disdain for speaking precisely or truthfully.
These are exactly the kinds of errors which, if Biden had committed them, would’ve resulted in a series of segments and news articles pointing out the president’s advanced age and questioning his fitness for office. But when Trump makes them, they go largely unnoticed or are shrugged off.
The primary reason Trump gets a pass on mental acuity is that his whole persona entails disdain for speaking precisely or truthfully. If Trump says something factually incorrect —…
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