Cognitive Decline? Trump Stutters, Stumbles During New York Rally
Speaking in Long Island on Wednesday, Donald Trump was as bombastic and boastful as ever—but also slurred his words on several occasions.
Trump stumbled over words like “migrants” and “Russia” and had trouble stringing sentences together. In another instance, Trump said he was “greater even than Elvis” because unlike the King, he doesn’t have a guitar—a riff that has increasingly featured in his speeches.
Trump: I'm the greatest of all time. Maybe greater even than Elvis pic.twitter.com/8PGDRZW0kr
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 18, 2024
Trump also promoted his wife Melania Trump’s new memoir—but admitted that he hadn’t read it and that he doesn’t know what she wrote about him, telling the crowd, “If she says bad things about me, I’ll call you all up and I’ll say, don’t buy it, get rid of it.”
Trump: People love our first lady. She just wrote a book called Melania. Go out and buy it. It's great. And if she says bad things about me, I'll call you all up and I'll say, don't buy it, get rid of it. pic.twitter.com/nkZ4725bE1
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 18, 2024
Trump’s erratic mental state has been on full display as his presidential campaign enters its final months before November. During last week’s debate with Kamala Harris, he went on long-winded rants unrelated to the questions asked. His speech patterns and alertness looked vastly different from 2016, as CNN demonstrated in a video comparing last week’s debate to one from eight years ago. Cognitive experts have also compared his recent speeches to ones from years ago, and see worrying signs.
Trump even seems to have his own, false recollection of the debate, telling Fox News’s Greg Gutfeld about a nonexistent audience going “crazy” for him. Somehow, though, Trump remains neck and neck with Kamala Harris in the polls despite these stumbles. With the election less than two months away, will the Harris campaign be able to capitalize?