On Friday night, Donald Trump spoke to the National Rifle Association — an organization that is but a shadow of its former self and yet still worth a campaign speech apparently.
Unfortunately for Trump, anyone paying attention would note that he hurt himself tremendously while attempting to bury Biden with his jabs at Biden’s age and memory.
Yes, Trump’s speech was full of the type of gaffes that — by this point — we expect to hear.
It’s supremely ironic, however, that when the Trump campaign is desperately trying to make Biden’s age and cognitive abilities a significant issue, we see now have such concrete evidence of Trump struggling with coherency.
Let’s take a look at Trump’s NRA speech and examine how it displays the likely Republican nominee for president as a candidate for involuntary conservatorship.
Firstly, Trump is a candidate who doesn’t truly grasp the full reality around him. For example:
Trump: If I wasn’t here I’d be having a nice Saturday afternoon
(It is Friday night) pic.twitter.com/P5rQ44hL6z
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) February 10, 2024
Please go and enjoy the rest of your Saturday afternoon, Mr. Former President.
There were also some more serious issues exposed in his remarks — things that aren’t likely considered gaffes so much as his total unawareness of one of the most serious problems the country faces, namely the fact that we parents are afraid to send our children to schools:
Such a disgusting thing to brag about when his first year in office saw one of the deadliest school shootings. https://t.co/ypmgU1RZt9
— Kelsie Taggart (@kelsientaggart) February 10, 2024
Still, it was Trump’s unforced errors that the whole of social media had a great time mocking in many ways:
Be nice. He’s an elderly man with a poor memory. https://t.co/pQ3hAUqkvn
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) February 10, 2024
Mmmm dino-dollars pic.twitter.com/a8qZvER8uy
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) February 10, 2024
Trump also made a massive strategic mistake in throwing his party overboard in the speech by admitting to being behind the scuttling of the bipartisan agreement that would’ve helped improve security at the border, giving Biden and the Democrats a huge issue to run on.
On tape! https://t.co/54Ezg6aHLz
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) February 10, 2024
Oh. And Trump didn’t do himself any favors when it came to “appearances.” He simply did not look like a healthy and mentally fit candidate.
Many people noticed, some joking that he was attempting to appeal to Black Americans with the amount of bronzer that he seemingly applied to his face with a heavy-handed trowel.
He’s got the bronzer caked on so thick tonight that his flop sweat is struggling to break through. https://t.co/mMPKHu6Wri
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) February 10, 2024
As he often does, Trump slurred his way through the speech, behavior just made worse by the fact that Trump does so much to highlight others’ mistakes:
Dementia Trump is staring at the teleprompter, pauses to think about it, and still can’t say it. https://t.co/gxhvEW5JXS
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) February 10, 2024
He finally got around to talking about the Special Counsel report declining to prosecute President Biden for possessing classified documents, in part because Biden cooperated with the federal government in collecting the documents.
Trump believes that he did more to cooperate with the Feds than Biden ever did. He fed them lunch, after all:
If Trump cooperated, he would not have been indicted. Trump refused to cooperate, instructed people to hide and destroy evidence, and he ignored a federal subpoena. https://t.co/9yv7hoWBhY
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) February 10, 2024
Trump: I didn’t fight them. I even gave the DOJ and FBI lunch at Mar-a-Lago. They say I didn’t behave. I gave them lunch! pic.twitter.com/RMrsqLXS7m
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 10, 2024
Trump mocked Biden for having the classified documents in a garage when it was Trump who stored them in an unsecured bathroom, in a venue filled with people with no security clearances whatsoever, and reportedly showed them to multiple people.
Trump: In a very flimsy garage with a door you could cut with a scissor pic.twitter.com/z1qsTVLJRu
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 10, 2024
There were plenty more just bizarre “Trump stories.”
Apparently just the other day means one year ago https://t.co/YI0izGLhU9
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 10, 2024
Perhaps the most unhinged statement of the NRA speech was Trump’s claim that if he isn’t re-elected – “they” will rename Pennsylvania:
This is perfectly normal. Absolutely no mental issues here. 😵💫 https://t.co/Mlbje3PBkn
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) February 10, 2024
And finally, we get to the point where the man who presided over a White House “pill mill” where the doctor was called the “Candy Man” warns about the nation’s drug problems.
See now on THIS I’ll defer to Trump’s knowledge https://t.co/Gjj6WEaayq
— Keith Olbermann⌚️ (@KeithOlbermann) February 10, 2024
We don’t joke about addiction ever. It is a disease that has killed millions and thus it should be addressed as a national health issue. But it is tough to hear it coming from Trump.
And those are the highlights of a speech in which Trump sought to highlight Biden’s “dementia.”
Someone hand the man a mirror.
Editor’s note: This is an opinion column that solely reflects the opinions of the author.
