# Is Trump confused? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 24, 2024, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589 "2024-01-24T13:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 125
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2514 "2024-10-11T15:19:39Z")
Ah, yes. The “soft bigotry of low expectations.” ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2515 "2024-10-11T16:30:20Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > [@Stratocaster](#): > > > > That passes as mentally sharp for you? Uh, okay. I’ll grant, this piece is not the normal gibberish, but Cicero it ain’t. > > The excerpt contains trace amounts of humility and self depredation I didn’t think Trump was capable of. It’s fucking Shakespeare beside the bar Trump has set for himself. I’ll concede it’s not his normal incoherent blather. I took exception with “mentally sharp.” I’ll also disagree that any occasion where he doesn’t shit his pants amounts to presidential. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2516 "2024-10-11T17:28:17Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Ah, yes. The “soft bigotry of low expectations.” My expectation is that, if both re-elected and confused, he will be controlled by those around him. And most of them (think generals and admirals) may be normie. My impression is that Donald thinks on his feet, is rarely confused, and thus will be able to consolidate power if elected. Except perhaps for nuclear weapons authority, a confused Trump is less dangerous than the actual clever wannabe dictator he is. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2517 "2024-10-11T17:41:29Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > My guess is that the first sentence above was off the teleprompter, and the rest was ad libbed. > [@Stratocaster](#): > > That passes as mentally sharp for you? Yeah, one on-point sentence, then a left turn into a rambling digression about the ‘good old days’? Seems exactly like what a doddering old man does. I wonder if he was wearing an onion on his belt while driving his GTO. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2518 "2024-10-11T17:43:54Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Trump: “I had that GTO” Did you actually own a GTO, Donald? Produce the invoice. Show us the title – not just the short form, but the long form. Get some of your friends from back then to confirm this. Surely you would have a photograph of you in it? Or, I bet it was some other car. /s ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2519 "2024-10-11T17:46:29Z")
I’m sure that the closest Donnie has ever come to a real GTO is at a car show, the song “Little GTO” by Ronny and the Daytonas, and/or the movie _Two Lane Blacktop._ ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2520 "2024-10-11T17:46:48Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > I’ll also disagree that any occasion where he doesn’t shit his pants amounts to presidential. We need to distinguish between presidential as in FDR, and presidential as in Vladimir Putin or Juan Perón. [Mobs Terrorize Buenos Aires Through Night, Wrecking Opposition Buildings (1953)](https://www.nytimes.com/1953/04/16/archives/6-killed-by-bomb-at-perons-rally-u-s-citizen-held-mobs-terrorize.html?ogrp=dpl&unlocked_article_code=1.RU4.zNYS.3D9u8lRhwnCA&smid=url-share) > [@](#): > > Perón thundered a threat to hang the guilty from trees when they could be found. The U.S. has been a bit of an outlier in what it means to be presidential. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2521 "2024-10-11T17:52:35Z")
Never mind. Don’t want to run afoul of P&E rules. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2522 "2024-10-11T18:03:32Z")
Two different things. One regards his mental acuity and dotage, the other the appeal of hateful autocrats. Regarding the former, just because Grandpa remembered today that Truman is no longer president doesn’t make him sharp as a tack. That Gramps likewise ranted about the @#$&ing coloreds taking over doesn’t mean that there aren’t legions of bigots who agree with him. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2523 "2024-10-11T18:37:31Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > My expectation is that, if both re-elected and confused, he will be controlled by those around him. And most of them (think generals and admirals) may be normie. I’m really bothered by this assertion. First off, the Republicans are shitting a brick over the idea that Biden was supposedly in mental decline that was being covered up by the Cabinet and Harris. Every accusation being a confession and an that, Trump is set. But really, I don’t see “normie” generals and admirals letting a mental decrepit sit in the chair. The other thing is we remember the whole “adults in the room” remark from before, and see how far that got us. If anyone were to try to cover up a declining Trump in office, it would be a Vance/Thiel cabal using the MAGA toadies as cover. But there are enough power-happy weasels in the party to let the secret get out. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2524 "2024-10-11T19:06:11Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > The other thing is we remember the whole “adults in the room” remark from before, and see how far that got us. And it’ll be worse this time around. He learned his lesson from last time, and will make sure that all adults are given the heave ho, and replaced with like-minded toddlers. That is the whole point of the 2025 project. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2525 "2024-10-11T19:33:43Z")
Hello farty, my old friend You came to lie to us again Because the smell softly creeping Left its seeds while you were rambling And the stench that was planted in my brain Still remains I wish the sound was silent. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2526 "2024-10-11T19:52:18Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Yeah, one on-point sentence, then a left turn into a rambling digression about the ‘good old days’? Seems exactly like what a doddering old man does. Exactly. Funny, while - as I have made it clear - I think that some of the accusations of verbal incompetence in this thread are overblown, this clip strikes me as a prime example of Trump’s dissolution into incoherent narcissism. Clearly, he is supposed to be making points about the decline of the American auto industry. But after one sentence he reverts to form: - he makes it boastfully all about himself (he had not one but _two_ GTOs!) - he grouses about how things used to be better (when there was no foreign competition) - he indulges in self-pity (poor Donnie never had a Corvette) - he goes off on a tangent, still in “look at me” mode (his hair was waving in the wind) and so on. Yeah, that was “doddering old man” on full display, no question. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2527 "2024-10-11T20:17:37Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > But really, I don’t see “normie” generals and admirals letting a mental decrepit sit in the chair. He already clearly is mentally decrepit. Far more than Biden ever was. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2528 "2024-10-11T20:27:34Z")
Corvettes have never been made in Detroit. The first 300, in 1953, were built by hand in Flint, Michigan. Production then moved to St. Louis, and since 1981 has been in Bowling Green, Kentucky. And I wonder if Trump knows what “GTO” stands for. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2529 "2024-10-11T20:28:10Z")
“If this guy gets in – you have to get a new governor by the way. But if he gets in again, runs next year, but more importantly, I can’t believe she gets in.” > “called me sir, would have done whatever the hell I wanted. Yet it was Polis who had me took off the ballot because I was leading in the polls” > “When she came in she was ok, pretty good. Then they heard her talking. They watched her brain in action. When they saw the brain in action they said that’s a— and here she is again.” > ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2530 "2024-10-11T20:57:40Z")
“I will invoke the aliens enemy act of 1798. This was put there in 1798. That is a long time ago, right?” > “I’m leading Pennsylvania by a lot. That would be the end of Pennsylvania.” > “On day one of the Trump Organization. The Trump Organization. When I founded it, it was nice. But now it’s great. But I want to get back to the Trump administration is gonna do things, is gonna do things like has- really- never been done. We’re gonna clean this thing out”" > “Springfield, Ohio… They dropped in 32,000, that are really illegal… they said they did it through probation. What’s probation? I assume they they are like prisoners and therefore they are legal.” > ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2531 "2024-10-11T21:38:51Z")
Ye gods, today’s speech is a gold mine of nonsense. “We won two world wars where we had something called Fort Bragg where the names were changed. You win two wars out of Fort Bragg and they want to change the name. But where they change the name, they change the name out of places” > “In Colorado the gang even got a green light to shoot police officers. Did you know the gang got the okay to kill your police?” > ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2532 "2024-10-11T21:40:49Z")
Very quickly scrolling through these, for whatever reason I was reminded of the Steinbrenner character on Seinfeld. Is this rambling just a New York thing? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/2533 "2024-10-11T21:43:59Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > My guess is that the first sentence above was off the teleprompter, and the rest was ad libbed. Was that word-for-word what he actually said, or was it a cleaned up transcript of what he was trying to say? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589.md?page=124) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589.md?page=126)