During his Wisconsin rally on Saturday, September 7, Donald Trump, 78, caused concern regarding his mental capabilities when he referred to Elon Musk by the incorrect name.
Referring to the 53-year-old founder of Tesla, the former president asserted in the viral video, "Leon's gonna send up a rocket." Users of X, which was previously known as Twitter, responded by expressing their opinions on Trump's error.
“Are you kidding me?!? And he isn’t in a mental decline?? ‘Leon’?? Well, at least he got the letters right will say every MAGA cult follower,” one social media user said. “Dementia is setting in. Hope he can get into a decent memory care facility post-bankruptcy,” another netizen stated.
“Leon Musk said that Trump was way too old to be POTUS,” a third source shared. “Cognitive decline,” a fourth X user commented.
OK! Magazine previously reported that since Joe Biden, 81, withdrew from the presidential campaign amid public apprehension regarding his advanced age, Trump has been the subject of criticism for his purported mental decline. Numerous individuals have identified Trump's consistent errors during his speeches.
Trump also encountered difficulty in articulating the term "eliminate" during his Wisconsin speech when discussing his strategy for the Department of Education. He started by saying, “Ultimately, we’ll el-ah-ah.”
After the blunder, Trump attempted to obscure it by meandering, “And you know what we’re doing here I say it all the time. I’m dying to get back to do this.” Ultimately, he was able to articulate his message, stating, “We will ultimately eliminate the federal department of education.” The public then turned on Trump for his stutter.
“He couldn't say ‘eliminate,’” a netizen said. “Bad Connection!!!” another social media user added. “He glitches with every speech,” a third user noted. “Trump could benefit from education at least on a third-grade level,” a fourth source stated.
“Trump knows the only way to expand his base is to make the public stupid. Look no further than his base,” one person wrote, attacking the policy itself.
Dr. Lance Dodes, a retired Harvard Medical School professor and supervising analyst emeritus of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, asserted that the father-of-five exhibits signs of dementia after observing Trump's numerous performances.
"Unlike normal aging, which is characterized by forgetting names or words, Trump repeatedly shows something very different: confusion about reality. If he were to become president he would have to be immediately removed from office via the 25th Amendment as dangerously unable to fulfill the responsibilities of office,” the expert said.
Business Times reached out to Donald Trump for comments.