At a campaign rally Monday, Trump struggled to enunciate his view that drug dealers should get the death penalty. He initially failed to pronounce “smallest,” and then added, “We are an institute in a powerful death penalty. We will put this on.”

The comments echo some of Trump’s gaffes from late last year, including when he mixed up President Biden, former president Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on multiple occasions. (Trump insisted that he hadn’t really done so and that his comments were intentional.)

It’s easy to isolate a gaffe or two and read too much into it. The “death penalty” one could be Trump merely mangling what he’s reading on a teleprompter, for instance. But the fact that they’ve happened in quick succession as Trump emerges on a campaign trail he’s largely been able to avoid — he held few events in Iowa, in part due to weather and in part because his huge lead meant he didn’t need to — suggests there could be more to come.

  • @pearsaltchocolatebar
    link
    95 months ago

    The man has been showing clear signs of fairly advanced dementia for a long time now. He’s not even mentally competent enough to tie his shoes without adult supervision.

    I don’t know what ‘mental sharpness’ they’re talking about.