Donald Trump's incoherence has gotten even worse over the past few weeks, with the former president rambling on about the size of the legendary late golfer Arnold Palmer’s penis at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend. Comments like this have led Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign to ask: Is he okay?
At a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Trump went on a 12-minute-long rambling tangent about Palmer, concluding with the comment about the late golfer’s genitals.
“Arnold Palmer was all man, and I say that in all due respect to women, and I love women,” Trump said. “But this guy, this guy—this is a guy that was all man. This man was strong and tough, and I refuse to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, ‘Oh my God. That's unbelievable.’ I had to say it. I had to say it.”
The comments arrive as Trump has canceled a number of interviews and campaign appearances, with his campaign reportedly telling one podcast host whom they canceled on that Trump was too “exhausted” to participate. And the genitalia comment was the latest in a string of verbal flubs Trump has made on the trail in recent days.
At a recent campaign rally in Arizona, Trump mispronounced “Assyrians” as "Asur-Asians."
At another rally on Oct. 14 in Oaks, Pennsylvania, Trump told the crowd to vote on Jan. 5, when the election is on Nov. 5.
“I’ll tell you, if everything works out and everybody gets out on Jan. 5, or before,” Trump said. “You know, it used to be, you’d have a date. Today, you can vote two months before, probably three months after. They don’t know what the hell they’re doing. But we’re gonna straighten it all out. We’re gonna straighten that out, too. We’re gonna straighten out our election process, too. That’s gotta be important also.”
Shortly after that, Trump abruptly stopped answering questions and instead awkwardly danced on stage to his campaign playlist for 39 minutes straight.
This past Friday, on the morning show “Fox & Friends,” a young boy asked Trump about his favorite president as a kid. Trump replied that it was Ronald Reagan, who was president when Trump was in his late 30s and early 40s.
While the blunders have picked up in recent weeks, they’ve been going on for longer than that.
In September, after his abysmal performance at his first and only presidential debate with Harris, Trump said the audience at the debate "went crazy" for him, even though there was no audience.
Later that same month, Trump said he had "a great day in Louisiana" when he had actually been in Georgia.
In early October, he said North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is “trying to kill” him, when he seemingly meant Iran. He also incorrectly said there was “nobody ever tougher on Iraq” than him, when, again, he no doubt meant Iran.
The questions about his mental fitness are clearly getting to Trump.
At a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, he insisted he’s "not that close to 80." He's 78.
And when asked about his age and cognitive abilities, he replied, "I have no cognitive. [Harris] may have a cognitive problem. But, but there’s no cognitive problem. It was nice that they actually said that, they said, ‘You know, if anyone has any questions, we were grilling this guy for two hours or two and a half hours and he’s got no cognitive.”"
The growing number of verbal blunders and bizarre behavior have led a number of mainstream media outlets, which hammered President Joe Biden for his age and mental acuity, to now question whether Trump has the stamina to be president for another four years.
The New York Times had an article titled: “Trump’s Speeches, Increasingly Angry and Rambling, Reignite the Question of Age.” And Forbes had a similar one: “Trump’s Unwieldy Speeches Raise Questions About His Mental Acuity.” As did NBC News: “Trump's bizarre music session reignites questions about his mental acuity.” And the Washington Post asked, in a headline, “How big a political problem is mental acuity for Trump?”
Harris, for her part, has demanded that Trump release his medical records to prove he is not hiding any signs of cognitive decline or other medical issues that could make it too difficult for him to serve as president for the next four years. And she’s specifically called Trump out for being unstable and unfit to lead.
Her campaign has been relentlessly highlighting these moments on social media too, calling out his bizarre claims and the incoherent things he says.
Harris said Oct. 18 at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, “He is ducking debates and canceling interviews. C’mon. And check this out—his own campaign team recently said it is because of exhaustion. Well, if you are exhausted on the campaign trail, it raises real questions about whether you are fit for the toughest job in the world.”
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