Presidential Historian Slams Trump for Cognitive Slips, “Not In Control Of What He Says”

Michael Beschloss, author of nine books on the US presidency, slammed Trump on MSNBC after the former president won the New Hampshire primary on Jan 23. He predicted that voters would regret choosing a candidate that is displaying signs of unpredictability.

No control

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“This is not someone who’s exactly the most self-disciplined candidate the Republicans could have for the presidency,” Beschloss said on Tuesday, “Looks at the way he’s been talking during the last week. He’s not in control of what he says.”

Embarrassing mix-up

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“He confuses Nancy Pelosi with Nikki Haley,” Beschloss continued, referring to Trump’s Friday mix-up of the two very different politicians. “Nikki Haley is in charge of security,” Trump incorrectly claimed in front of a crowd of supporters. “We “We offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guards, whatever they want. They turned it down. They don’t want to talk about that. These are very dishonest people.” 

Fact check

Nikki Haley Addressing the public
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Nikki Haley was not involved with security during the Jan 6 riot in any way. Neither was Nancy Pelosi, although Trump has repeatedly claimed that she was.

Just one example

Warning, whisper, stop, secret
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“He makes other mistakes,” Beschloss said. Their frequency “seems to be getting more, rather than less.”

Another mistake

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Trump appeared to slur his words at one rally in New Hampshire. A clip of the moment was shared by Biden’s reelection campaign, which described Trump as being “unintelligible.”

Yet another mistake

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On Jan 18, Trump was giving a speech in New Hampshire when he appeared to become momentarily confused. “They want to de-bank you,” he started, “and we’re going to de-bank — think of this. They want to take away your rights. They want to take away your country. The things they’re doing, all-electric cars. Give me a break.”

Mental decline

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In the same speech, Trump claimed to be “cognitively better” than he was two decades ago. Tim O’Brien, a journalist who knew him back then, wrote on X that Trump was “not very cognitively together then. Much less cognitively better now.”

Bizarre explanation

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One clip of Trump attempting to describe a missile launch system went viral. He was talking about building an “Iron Dome over our country” when things got strange: “These are not muscle guys here, they’re muscle guys up here, right,” Trump said, pointing at his arms and head.

Sounds and shapes

Former US President and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks at a watch party during the 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 15, 2024. Trump told Americans Monday "it is time for our country to come together" after he won the Iowa caucuses, cementing his status as the likely Republican challenger to take on President Joe Biden in November's election. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)
Image by Jim WATSON / AFP

“And then they calmly walk to us,” Trump continued, “and ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.… They’ve only got 17 seconds to figure this whole thing out. Boom. OK. Missile launch. Woosh. Boom.”

Acing the test

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Trump has also repeatedly bragged about passing a test used to flag early signs of dementia. “They always show you the first one, like a giraffe, a tiger, a whale,” Trump said. “Which one is the whale?” According to The New Republic, the test in question has never involved this combination of animals.

Asking questions

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“Don’t be surprised if you have someone that is 80 in office,” Haley said, “their mental stability is going to continue to decline. That’s just human nature. I don’t know if he was confused, I don’t know what happened, but it’s enough to send us a warning sign.”

Both too old

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on November 4, 2020 shows Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden gestures after speaking during election night at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, and US President Donald Trump speaks during election night in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, early on November 4, 2020. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are battling it out for the White House, with polls closed across the United States Tuesday -- and a long night of waiting for results in key battlegrounds on the cards. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS and MANDEL NGAN / AFP)
Image by MANDEL NGAN, ANGELA WEISS / AFP

According to polls, two-thirds of voters consider Biden too old to be president again. About half of voters think Trump is too old.

More at risk

Trump and Biden
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“The age issue is one that if Trump gets tarred with the same brush as Biden, it really hurts him,” a poll director told the New York Times. In one October poll of Pennsylvania voters, those who thought both were too old to be president heavily favored Biden over Trump when forced to choose.

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