President Donald Trump found himself at the center of renewed scrutiny following a verbal misstep during a press conference on March 28. This incident led one observer to claim that Trump had experienced a “mental lapse” more pronounced than any speech difficulties exhibited by President Joe Biden.
The moment occurred as Trump swore in Alina Habba as the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey. During his remarks, Trump paused significantly mid-sentence before making a puzzling statement. Referring to individuals he described as “people of crime,” he struggled to find the word “criminal.”
“We hope this court system that’s become so active all of a sudden in trying to protect some very very bad, uh, people of crime,” Trump said after the pause. He continued, “They have to stop. They have to let us do the job that we were elected to do the job. They shouldn’t be interfering in that. It’s a very sad thing going on, nobody can even believe it.”
Dan Luchey, a former speechwriter for President Biden, seized the opportunity to make a pointed comparison, arguing that Trump’s verbal stumble was more severe than any speech lapses Biden had experienced.
“Basically every day now, Donald Trump has a mental lapse that is objectively rougher than anything Joe Biden ever exhibited,” Luchey remarked.
The issue of age-related cognitive decline had already become a topic of debate during the 2024 presidential election, contributing to Biden’s decision not to seek re-election. At 81, Biden was the oldest president in U.S. history, and concerns about his cognitive health had emerged as a focal point of political discourse.
In the wake of Trump’s verbal misstep, reactions from social media users varied. Some speculated that Trump had nearly said “people of color” instead, while others downplayed the significance of the slip-up, suggesting it was minor compared to Biden’s frequent verbal errors.
One user commented, “Deranged.” Another remarked, “Dementia Don. Sad but true. His children should take care of him.”
Others attributed the incident to the combined effects of aging and stress, with one person noting, “Old Age and Immense Stress equals neurolinguistic deficits: AKA: Word Retrieval Problems.”
A number of viewers criticized Trump’s speech pattern, with some asserting that his remarks were nonsensical or repetitive. One commenter said, “Thus is ridiculous! He babbles about nothing same nonsense over and over again!”
Another suggested that Trump exhibited more pronounced signs of cognitive decline than Biden had during the latter’s candidacy, stating, “Trump was objectively showing more signs of cognitive decline than Biden while Biden was still running.”
As the conversation surrounding this incident unfolded, others predicted that Trump’s cognitive state would continue to deteriorate over time. One person remarked, “#DementiaDon is only going to get worse, and we’re barely 3 months in #Trump**.”
Reflecting on Trump’s behavior during the election, some pointed out that similar concerns had been raised before, with one commenter noting, “Trump was just as bad before the election. Even when he was dreadfully sick at the debate, Joe Biden never said anything like the demented ravings of Trump. But who did @jaketapper write a book about?”
