Donald Trump and his MAGA backers relished deriding Joe Biden for his age, mocking his errors and questioning his psychological acuity, however was it a case of pot, kettle, black?
Or, “Person, woman, man, camera, TV” to cite Trump’s well-known reminiscence check of 2020 that offered a lot fodder for late night time TV hosts.
He’s set to eclipse Biden by a number of months because the oldest president ever sworn in — six months earlier than his 79th birthday — and already questions have been raised about his personal capabilities and the way that may have an effect on his time on the White Home over the approaching 4 years.
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President Joe Biden will depart workplace aged 82. His age, stamina, and “cognitive decline” have been all key areas Mr Trump tried to weaponise in his battle to win his means again again into energy.
However now, having efficiently seen off 59-year-old challenger Kamala Harris and making historical past because the oldest president, he’s more likely to discover the shoe firmly on the opposite foot.
Through the marketing campaign in October greater than 230 docs, nurses and well being care professionals from the ‘Doctors for Harris’ group penned an open letter calling on Mr Trump to launch his medical information, arguing that he needs to be clear about his well being “given his advancing age.”
“Trump is falling concerningly short of any standard of fitness for office and displaying alarming characteristics of declining acuity,” they wrote.
“In the limited opportunities we can examine his behavior, he’s providing a deeply concerning snapshot.”
Rambling and confused
Mr Trump’s public appearances are lengthy and rambling and he frequently confuses timelines, occasions and other people.
Through the marketing campaign at a discussion board in North Carolina, he appeared to haven’t any recollection of assembly with a severely injured veteran and his household. The veteran’s spouse famous that “you visited with him many times” and “you just saw him this summer”.
Mr Trump additionally confused Republican rival Nikki Haley with former Democratic Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He additionally blended up the situation of a serious army base and mistakenly mentioned that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán led Turkey.
At a information convention riddled with false and deceptive statements in August, Trump recalled driving as a passenger in a helicopter with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown when it was compelled to make an emergency touchdown.
Because the oldest incoming US president in historical past, Donald Trump will face scrutiny over his age, and psychological well being. Credit score: Alex Brandon/AP
Brown later mentioned he had by no means shared a helicopter with Trump. As a substitute, it was probably a Los Angeles metropolis councilman, who can be Black, who shared the rocky chopper experience.
At a rally in Wisconsin, he described the the US as nation as a “third-world hellhole”. He then informed his viewers, “Remember, there’s a hat that’s made that sells like crazy,” earlier than interrupting himself to touch upon a fly.
“Oh there’s a fly, I wonder where the fly came from. See, two years ago, I wouldn’t have had a fly up here. You’re changing rapidly,” Trump mentioned.
Anti-Trump group The Lincoln Mission funded advertisements that attacked the previous President’s age and psychological capabilities. One referred to as One Previous Man’ described Trump as “weak, impotent, forgetful, mentally declining fast”.
Medical file
Mr Trump, a eager golfer, resisted calls to launch full up to date medical information through the marketing campaign.
As a substitute, he pointed to “voluntarily released” updates from his private doctor, in addition to detailed studies from Dr Ronny Jackson, who handled him after the primary assassination try.
The letter from his private doctor, Bruce Aronwald, dated from September 2023 mentioned he had discovered Trump’s total bodily well being to be “excellent”.
“His physical exams were well within the normal range and his cognitive exams were exceptional.”
He additionally famous Mr Trump had misplaced weight via an improved food plan and train.
A press release from Mr Trump’s marketing campaign mentioned docs had concluded he was in excellent and glorious well being to be Commander in Chief.
There’s no requirement that candidates launch well being information. However presidential nominees historically disclose medical information voluntarily given the calls for of the job, notably if there are considerations about their age.
The common life expectancy for a male within the US is 74.8 years, in line with the Centre for Illness Management.
In 2008, Republican nominee John McCain opened greater than 1000 pages of medical paperwork for the general public to look at. At 72, he would have been the oldest president elected to a primary time period.
Going through scrutiny over his superior age in 2019, the then-77-year-old Biden launched a three-page be aware from his physician.
‘Cognitive decline’
In an interview with Fox Information in 2020, Mr Trump claimed he had aced an examination testing his cognitive talents, utilizing it to defend his psychological health to carry workplace and repeat his assertion, with out proof, that Mr Biden was struggling vital cognitive decline.
He has repeatedly claimed that docs have been amazed by his skill to recall a easy string of phrases: “Person, woman, man, camera, TV”.
“Joe should take that test because something is going on, and I say this with respect,” Trump mentioned.
“I mean, (it’s) going to probably happen to all of us, right? You know, it’s going to happen. But we can’t take a chance of it happening,” Mr Trump mentioned, including that those that develop into president “need stamina. You need physical health, and you need mental health.”
Since then Mr Trump hasn’t shied away from individuals questioning his psychological health, as a substitute poking enjoyable at critics who declare him “cognitively impaired” as a result of he “mispronounced a word”.
“They say, He’s cognitively impaired!” Trump joked. “No, I’ll let you know when I will be. I will be someday — we all will be someday. I’ll be the first to let you know.”
