Trump's Cognitive Decline.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

'His team knows': White House reporter reveals how staffers try to hide Trump's decline

"He's surrounded entirely by enablers during this campaign and would be again if he'd be in the White House a second time," Lemire said. "There would be no guardrails or adults in the room, it'd be people doing what he wants. To your point, he is not the same guy. You can watch video footage of the 2016 campaign, some of his time in the White House. We played last week a clip from the debate between Trump and [president Joe] Biden back in 2020. It was striking even then how much Trump has changed, how he's aged. He is in his late 70s, he is only a couple years younger than President Biden. We're seeing with more and more frequency, even as the media -- and we talked about it earlier, how the weekend was pull of polls and obsession about President Biden's age -- it is this, Trump, who day after day is showing the signs of age but also pressure."

"Indeed, pressure because he is not getting as much of the share of the Republican vote as he'd like," Lemire added. "Nikki Haley posting a win over the weekend. Pressure because of the money he now owes, nearly half a billion dollars in a couple cases in New York City, and pressure that his first criminal case, a case that could theoretically put him in prison, starts in just three weeks. We are seeing it night after night on the rally stage, where he seems to even just lose control of the English language. Mika [Brzezinski] cringes, I can't help it either at the end of that clip. His team knows, but they're just forging forward."

"They're trying to keep him off the stage as much as possible," added host Joe Scarborough. "Obviously, they don't want that out there. They don't want him on Truth Social. Again, he only hurts himself politically."

[All Along The Watchtower]

Even if Trump isn't as sharp as he was 8 years ago

He wasn't sharp then either.

the public perception that Biden is doddering is already baked.

Among the desperate victims of the conservative projection machine, sure.

"Trump isn't senile!  Biden is!"
"Trump isn't corrupt!  Biden is!"
"Trump isn't a wannabe dictator!  Biden is!"
"Trump isn't out of his depth!  Biden is!"

Biden's age registers as a significant concern for voters.  Sorry that's inconvenient for your team!  haha

Yes. And it’s not glossed over both because it’s true, and because the liberal/centrist media tries to both-sides things. The more left-wing media have never liked Biden either so they’re not inclined to do things that might help him, and Democrats in general have a lot of younger voters who, even aside from Gaza, really don’t like that the choice is between the same old white guys as in 2020.

Meanwhile, right-wing media pretends that Trump is incredibly smart and high-functioning because they’re too cowardly to oppose their audience, ie. the people they’ve cultivated and egged on for decades, and also because they think Trump will reward them for it (which he very well might—temporarily). The Republican Party is at war with reality and doesn’t play by any rules, so it’s not exactly a fair fight.

[GP270watch]

It does appear there's more focus on Trump's very clear cognitive decline.

  I really don't understand how people can listen to Trump and get anything positive or reassuring about his mental state. It shows they support Trump for other reasons and I won't speculate what those are in this thread. If you listen to the guy talk for 15 minutes, he's gone.

[Del Tachi]

Even if Trump isn't as sharp as he was 8 years ago

He wasn't sharp then either.

the public perception that Biden is doddering is already baked.

Among the desperate victims of the conservative projection machine, sure.

"Trump isn't senile!  Biden is!"
"Trump isn't corrupt!  Biden is!"
"Trump isn't a wannabe dictator!  Biden is!"
"Trump isn't out of his depth!  Biden is!"

Biden's age registers as a significant concern for voters.  Sorry that's inconvenient for your team!  haha

Yes. And it’s not glossed over both because it’s true, and because the liberal/centrist media tries to both-sides things. The more left-wing media have never liked Biden either so they’re not inclined to do things that might help him, and Democrats in general have a lot of younger voters who, even aside from Gaza, really don’t like that the choice is between the same old white guys as in 2020.

Meanwhile, right-wing media pretends that Trump is incredibly smart and high-functioning because they’re too cowardly to oppose their audience, ie. the people they’ve cultivated and egged on for decades, and also because they think Trump will reward them for it (which he very well might—temporarily). The Republican Party is at war with reality and doesn’t play by any rules, so it’s not exactly a fair fight.

You're engaging in The Big Cope: the belief that Democrats would win every competitive election if only it weren't for unfair media coverage. 

In addition to it being wrong (i.e., the media is overwhelmingly liberal, or at least very unsympathetic to Republicans), the Big Cope is lazy.  It's complacent in the assumption that progressives are simply right about everything, so there's no need to engage in the hard work of political persuasion or accept that you won't always get what you want in a democracy.

The Big Cope tells you Biden's age is another "But Her Emails!" moment.  But his age is both a real and valid concern for voters, even when compared to Trump.  Biden is 3.6 years older than Trump.  That's a significant age gap in your late 70s/early 80s, when the annual risk of death, Alzheimer's, and other medical problems are exponentially increasing.  Voters intuit this, even if only through personal experiences with aging parents/relatives, so the age gap between Trump and Biden becomes relevant. 

Confirming voters' intuition is that Biden holds fewer public appearances/interviews than any other modern president, by far.  Ezra Klein's podcast counts fewer than 100 interviews Biden has done so far as president; Barack Obama had given more than 400 and Trump more than 300 at this same point in their presidencies.  And the public performances Biden does give?  Mediocre.  Meanwhile Trump is out keeping up with the demands of a full time presidential campaign.   

[All Along The Watchtower]

You're engaging in The Big Cope: the belief that Democrats would win every competitive election if only it weren't for unfair media coverage.  

In addition to it being wrong (i.e., the media is overwhelmingly liberal, or at least very unsympathetic to Republicans), the Big Cope is lazy.  It's complacent in the assumption that progressives are simply right about everything, so there's no need to engage in the hard work of political persuasion or accept that you won't always get what you want in a democracy.

The Big Cope tells you Biden's age is another "But Her Emails!" moment.  But his age is both a real and valid concern for voters, even when compared to Trump.  Biden is 3.6 years older than Trump.  That's a significant age gap in your late 70s/early 80s, when the annual risk of death, Alzheimer's, and other medical problems are exponentially increasing.  Voters intuit this, even if only through personal experiences with aging parents/relatives, so the age gap between Trump and Biden becomes relevant.  

Confirming voters' intuition is that Biden holds fewer public appearances/interviews than any other modern president, by far.  Ezra Klein's podcast counts fewer than 100 interviews Biden has done so far as president; Barack Obama had given more than 400 and Trump more than 300 at this same point in their presidencies.  And the public performances Biden does give?  Mediocre.  Meanwhile Trump is out keeping up with the demands of a full time presidential campaign.  

Nothing I said was wrong. It was descriptive of the media environment at the moment. Not “cope.”

Trump is outright incoherent, Biden is slightly older and his public appearances can be ”mediocre” as you noted. Not the same.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

You're engaging in The Big Cope: the belief that Democrats would win every competitive election if only it weren't for unfair media coverage.  

In addition to it being wrong (i.e., the media is overwhelmingly liberal, or at least very unsympathetic to Republicans), the Big Cope is lazy.  It's complacent in the assumption that progressives are simply right about everything, so there's no need to engage in the hard work of political persuasion or accept that you won't always get what you want in a democracy.

The Big Cope tells you Biden's age is another "But Her Emails!" moment.  But his age is both a real and valid concern for voters, even when compared to Trump.  Biden is 3.6 years older than Trump.  That's a significant age gap in your late 70s/early 80s, when the annual risk of death, Alzheimer's, and other medical problems are exponentially increasing.  Voters intuit this, even if only through personal experiences with aging parents/relatives, so the age gap between Trump and Biden becomes relevant.  

Confirming voters' intuition is that Biden holds fewer public appearances/interviews than any other modern president, by far.  Ezra Klein's podcast counts fewer than 100 interviews Biden has done so far as president; Barack Obama had given more than 400 and Trump more than 300 at this same point in their presidencies.  And the public performances Biden does give?  Mediocre.  Meanwhile Trump is out keeping up with the demands of a full time presidential campaign.  

Nothing I said was wrong. It was descriptive of the media environment at the moment. Not “cope.”

Trump is outright incoherent, Biden is slightly older and his public appearances can be ”mediocre” as you noted. Not the same.

Trump's not incoherent, he just speaking in languages no one has ever heard of, and no one in the country even speaks those languages, they're truly foreign languages.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1764826768366531066

[Reactionary Libertarian]

You can’t lose something you never had.

People can point to Biden in 2012 and the decline is striking. Meanwhile Trump has never been coherent. dx of 0 -> 0 over 2012 -> 2024 is still 0. No change.

[Sir Mohamed]

Trump also sounds like an infant who discovered a new word and now wants to say it as many times as possible. Nuclear, nuclear, nuclear.

[politicallefty]

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5108401/user-clip-saudi-arabia-russia-what

Watch his face, especially before the halfway point...

[Progressive Pessimist]

You can’t lose something you never had.

People can point to Biden in 2012 and the decline is striking. Meanwhile Trump has never been coherent. dx of 0 -> 0 over 2012 -> 2024 is still 0. No change.

That's probably why his age and cognitive stability isn't as much of a liability.

[Oregon Eagle Politics]

I would say his voice sounds much better than Biden's timid and fragile one, which gives him the edge, but in terms of mental acuity...Yeah they are both gone.

[GP270watch]

https://twitter.com/mmpadellan/status/1769173989224579240

[Roll Roons]

It would be malpractice if Biden's team didn't highlight this. This honestly might be the best way to counter concerns about Biden's age and cognitive abilities.

[emailking]

Obama beat Biden not the other way around. Hopefully it won't matter in the end and they'll both be 2 term top 10 Presidents.

[Landslide Lyndon]

It would be malpractice if Biden's team didn't highlight this. This honestly might be the best way to counter concerns about Biden's age and cognitive abilities.

Biden and his surrogates can talk all day about it and it still won't do any good as long as the "liberal" media are obsessed only with Biden's "gaffes" and verbal missteps.

[DaleCooper]

It would be malpractice if Biden's team didn't highlight this. This honestly might be the best way to counter concerns about Biden's age and cognitive abilities.

I don't know why they've been too stupid to do this. Back in 2016, if Hillary's campaign had emphasized the fact that Trump is mentally retarded instead of focusing solely on the fact that he's a very mean man, then he would've lost and taken two or three more Republican senators down with him.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1769349837965697069

[Joe Republic]

I notice that Fuzzy Bear's current username is 'Fuzzy Won't Cover Up Biden's Senility'.

Talk about desperation-level projection and irony…

[DaleCooper]

I notice that Fuzzy Bear's current username is 'Fuzzy Won't Cover Up Biden's Senility'.

Talk about desperation-level projection and irony…

It doesn't really seem to work grammatically either. I suppose it technically does, but it's pretty incoherent. It's really sad to see.

[Joe Republic]

Somebody said he looks great in a bathing suit, right? And you know, when he was in the sand and he was having a hard time lifting his feet through the sand, because you know sand is heavy, they figured three solid ounces per foot, but sand is a little heavy, and he’s sitting in a bathing suit. Look, at 81, do you remember Cary Grant? How good was Cary Grant, right? I don’t think Cary Grant, he was good. I don’t know what happened to movie stars today. We used to have Cary Grant and Clark Gable and all these people. Today we have, I won’t say names, because I don’t need enemies. I don’t need enemies. I got enough enemies. But Cary Grant was, like – Michael Jackson once told me, ‘The most handsome man, Trump, in the world.’ ‘Who?’ ‘Cary Grant.’ Well, we don’t have that any more, but Cary Grant at 81 or 82, going on 100. This guy, he’s 81, going on 100. Cary Grant wouldn’t look too good in a bathing suit, either. And he was pretty good-looking, right?

[Joe Biden 2024]

Somebody said he looks great in a bathing suit, right? And you know, when he was in the sand and he was having a hard time lifting his feet through the sand, because you know sand is heavy, they figured three solid ounces per foot, but sand is a little heavy, and he’s sitting in a bathing suit. Look, at 81, do you remember Cary Grant? How good was Cary Grant, right? I don’t think Cary Grant, he was good. I don’t know what happened to movie stars today. We used to have Cary Grant and Clark Gable and all these people. Today we have, I won’t say names, because I don’t need enemies. I don’t need enemies. I got enough enemies. But Cary Grant was, like – Michael Jackson once told me, ‘The most handsome man, Trump, in the world.’ ‘Who?’ ‘Cary Grant.’ Well, we don’t have that any more, but Cary Grant at 81 or 82, going on 100. This guy, he’s 81, going on 100. Cary Grant wouldn’t look too good in a bathing suit, either. And he was pretty good-looking, right?

I can't even tell if that's real or fake.

[emailking]

I just saw His Girl Friday. It was ok.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I just saw His Girl Friday. It was ok.

That is a good movie, although my favorite Cary Grant movie has to be Arsenic and Old Lace.

[Independents for Nihilism]

Somebody said he looks great in a bathing suit, right? And you know, when he was in the sand and he was having a hard time lifting his feet through the sand, because you know sand is heavy, they figured three solid ounces per foot, but sand is a little heavy, and he’s sitting in a bathing suit. Look, at 81, do you remember Cary Grant? How good was Cary Grant, right? I don’t think Cary Grant, he was good. I don’t know what happened to movie stars today. We used to have Cary Grant and Clark Gable and all these people. Today we have, I won’t say names, because I don’t need enemies. I don’t need enemies. I got enough enemies. But Cary Grant was, like – Michael Jackson once told me, ‘The most handsome man, Trump, in the world.’ ‘Who?’ ‘Cary Grant.’ Well, we don’t have that any more, but Cary Grant at 81 or 82, going on 100. This guy, he’s 81, going on 100. Cary Grant wouldn’t look too good in a bathing suit, either. And he was pretty good-looking, right?

Thank you President Trump for convincing me to watch North by Northwest