# 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:** 16
**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:** [March 3, 2024, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/301 "2024-03-03T02:07:25Z")
Did you hear these words before various apologists started reinterpreting his speeches? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/302 "2024-03-03T02:08:25Z")
We are no longer the Knights Who Say “Ni!” We are now the Knights Who Say > [@Smapti](#): > > “Diiiiing boom! This is me, I, I here. Bing!” ---
**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:** [March 3, 2024, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/303 "2024-03-03T02:20:48Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > He doesn’t say “wall mongers”; he says “warmonger”. He doesn’t say “they type the red light off”; he says “they take the red light off.” And etc. That might he what he meant to say. It clearly isn’t what he did say, which is word salad coming from someone whose grip on language is eluding them repeatedly. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/304 "2024-03-03T02:23:47Z")
“Wallmongers” I would not have heard unless I was prepped to hear it. It sounds like a slurred “warmongers” to me. Weak example that should be discarded for better ones, IMHO. I hear “take the red light off” not “type the red light off” myself. Grasping for straws on that one. That one I was prepped to hear “type” and I hear “take.” ANd listening to it over and over, I hear “take.” C’mon. This is weak sauce when we have better material to work with. Then again, who knows, pushing this idiotic shit might work well enough. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/305 "2024-03-03T02:32:06Z")
Its actually entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/306 "2024-03-03T03:06:03Z")
I like the idea of Trump crumbling into obvious dementia, and turning of his loyalists (or enough fence-sitters.) But I don’t see it. Instead, I get the impression he is stressed and distracted by all of his legitimate concerns. Before, he just spouted nonsense. But he was able to maintain a somewhat focused line - get elected. Now, it is not just get elected, but also how many pending lawsuits, plus some sizable verdicts… That is enough to stress out and distract someone far more mentally acute than Trump. His style has always been to just start babbling about self praise and criticism of others. If he had any skill, it was in bullying others, and being willing to act more aggressively and lie more broadly. As someone said above, he has long known that few specifics of what he says matter. Instead, he just needs to spew enough angry and mocking buzz words, mixed with baseless self-aggrandisement. Sadly enough, I think a great number of folk will still find his incoherent ramblings appealing because they agree with some aspect of his vitriol. Or find him amusing. And that he “owns the libs.” And another group will support him as a figurehead behind which conservative extremists can dismantle our government. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2024, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/307 "2024-03-03T03:12:10Z")
I know one guy who thinks these slips are worth pointing out; > > ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/308 "2024-03-03T03:17:46Z")
I’m just wondering when we’ll see Mercedes on the campaign trail with him again. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/309 "2024-03-03T03:26:23Z")
Yeah, we’re in a post-Truth world, so might as well. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/310 "2024-03-03T13:10:58Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Its actually entertaining I wanna see him lift a glass of water, two handed, then have water dribble all over himself. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/311 "2024-03-03T13:25:26Z")
The _Saudi Arabia_ _Oh!_ one cracks me up every time. I would agree that we shouldn’t focus on these slips / gaffes / whatever they are. In the context though where every Biden gaffe is held up as evidence of something, even in more centrist or left-leaning media (this was the reason I cancelled my Economist subscription for example), it’s worth pointing out just how much worse Trump’s brainfarts are. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2024, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/312 "2024-03-03T13:34:48Z")
Biden’s gaffes – and they’re legendary and not infrequent – are set against the backdrop of a sane, measured, intelligent politician – the part that conservative media ignores. Trump’s _unhinged_ statements are set against the backdrop of a lifetime of endless unhinged statements. Which makes Biden’s gaffes _appear_ more glaring. With Trump, the most notable of his unhinged comments comes at you like the beginnings of a light drizzle while there’s already a fire hose trained on you. The risk of trying to make hay out of Trump’s _verbal missteps_ is losing sight of the big picture – an unstable sociopath with utter contempt for the Constitution, Democracy, and the Rule of Law and an inarguable history of trying to overthrow the legitimately elected US government (ie, self-coup). Ignoring _that_? That’s the MAGAs’ job, not ours. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/313 "2024-03-03T14:37:34Z")
I think I can now say how the MAGA movement will react to Trump’s confusion. On a RWNJ website I lurk, they’re saying it’s all AI-doctored video. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/314 "2024-03-03T14:57:51Z")
Again, I am explicitly saying we should **not** “make hay” of the gaffes, but we certainly need to push back against the narrative right now across much of the media that Biden is confused and Trump (while being loathsome) is at least compos mentis. Trump is a vile person **and** he makes embarrassing gaffes **and** he also just talks crap that even his supporters can’t fathom (e.g. ID for loaf of bread). Another factor here is the new media landscape, as I’ve lamented previously. Clips like this are one thing that can pierce media bubbles / social media. Data is much easier for people to handwave IME. Let’s not preemptively shut down ways of reaching people. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/315 "2024-03-03T15:00:09Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Clips like this are one thing that can pierce media bubbles / social media. Except it backfires when you see the rest of the context, and just leads to the “lamestream media is out to get you” narrative. At least it does for me. The two I cited are not incoherent ramblings. They’re just normal stutters or slurs. Shit I do every day in my speech at 48. There’s better fruit to pick. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/316 "2024-03-03T15:08:58Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Again, I am explicitly saying we should **not** “make hay” of the gaffes {SNIP} Just because Discourse does this poorly, I wanted to clarify that my comment was to the general thread and _not_ specifically in response to you or your words. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/317 "2024-03-03T15:13:57Z")
@DavidNRockies Ah ok understood. @pulykamell I basically agree. It’s a tool which can sometimes reach the unreachable but it can backfire if it seems to be bad faith. And of course people are at their most defensive when they feel they (and/or their hero) are being mocked. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/318 "2024-03-03T15:32:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “Wallmongers” I would not have heard unless I was prepped to hear it. It sounds like a slurred “warmongers” to me. Weak example that should be discarded for better ones, IMHO. He’s putting stress on the wrong syllable, and also pronouncing it wrongly. It should be war-mung-er. He says **war** **mong** -er, with a gap between the first and second syllable ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/319 "2024-03-03T16:19:53Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > The risk of trying to make hay out of Trump’s _verbal missteps_ is losing sight of the big picture – an unstable sociopath with utter contempt for the Constitution, Democracy, and the Rule of Law and an inarguable history of trying to overthrow the legitimately elected US government (ie, self-coup). I don’t see much of a risk, the fact he is an unstable sociopath with utter contempt for the rule of law has been clear from the start and hasn’t prevented him from being elected president. I don’t see the danger in pointing out he is now a unstable sociopath with utter contempt for the rule of law, who is clearly in the later stages of cognitive decline. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/320 "2024-03-03T16:43:24Z")
Huh. I say it with a gap between the first and second syllable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589.md?page=17)