The obsession with crowds, the mention of Hannibal Lecter, the speeches that last more than an hour and a half – where the former president sometimes rambles -, or the messianic airs with which Donald Trump refers to himself after surviving the Butler bullet. The Republican has always been characterized by his histrionics, but amid the usual outbursts, questions about the powers of the former president float in the air. With Joe Biden out of the presidential race, the shadow of age is now coming for Trump.
“I’m not 80 years old and I’m not even close to turning 80,” the Republican said with complete conviction last week during a public event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Trump, who is 78 years old, was defending himself against recent attacks by Democrats in reference to his age. Kamala Harris has called the magnate “unhinged” on several occasions, while former President Barack Obama has referred to the Republican as “grandpa.”
In recent weeks, Trump has provided enough material for Democrats to attack him. The most recent case is the Republican candidate’s staggering just before getting into a garbage truck last Wednesday in Wisconsin. With this he was trying to put the focus on Biden – who seemed to call Trump’s followers “trash” in comments that both the White House and the president himself tried to clarify – and attack Harris. Although the image of the tycoon sticking his head out of the passenger window is the one that has grabbed the headlines, the shaking when he tried to open the door of the truck, when it almost seems like he is going to fall, is reminiscent of the instability that Biden has shown on several occasions, the same one that Trump has fiercely attacked.
Days before, at a meeting in the key state of Pennsylvania on October 14, Trump offered one of the most disturbing images to date. At one point, the former president got tired of answering the audience’s questions and turned the event into an improvised concert that lasted 40 minutes. The Village People’s ‘YMCA’, Rufus Wainwright’s ‘Hallelujah’ and Guns N’ Roses’ ‘November Rain’ were some of the songs that played while Trump swayed and DJed.
The strange spectacle that Trump offered, and that his spokesman, Steve Cheung, tried to make up as “something very special,” took place just two days after the White House published a report from the vice president’s family doctor on her state of health. health. The document ensures that Harris has “excellent health” and that she has “the physical and mental resilience” to become president.
The last report that Trump published was in November — just on Biden’s birthday — and it said that the former president was in “excellent” physical and mental health. However, the letter did not contain specific medical evidence detailing his claims. “I have had cognitive tests. I’ve done them twice and both times they turned out well, and in one case the doctor said: ‘I’ve never seen anyone get good grades,’” Trump said from Lancaster.
Despite insisting on his supposed youth and vigor, in the last month Trump has also canceled up to six public appearances with the media, according to MNSBC. On some of those occasions, according to Politico, the Republican’s campaign team has justified the cancellations due to Trump’s “exhaustion.” The fatigue or exhaustion that the Republican seems to be suffering in the final stretch of the campaign continues to raise even more questions about his age.
Trump continues to hold rallies and attend campaign events to raise funds. On some occasions he has been seen falling asleep, as happened on October 17 during an event in Oakland County, Michigan. When he fell asleep last spring during one of the sessions of the trial in the Stormy Daniels case, his followers interpreted it as a joke.
The lapses, which until now seemed to only haunt Joe Biden, are also going after Trump. After the debate against Harris, Trump said he was convinced that the public who attended the face-to-face meeting was on his side. The problem is that there was never an audience, since the debate was held behind closed doors. In fact, that was one of the conditions agreed between both campaigns. Even so, Trump assured that the public “went crazy” when he spoke.
A UCLA study shows how since 2016 Trump’s speech has evolved, increasingly using more violent language to the detriment of presenting clearer proposals. Before, even though fake news was already part of the Republican style manual, you could see how the tycoon made speeches with more proposals and that talked more about the economy, in principle the area where he is strong. Now, the vast majority of the narrative that Trump offers to his followers focuses on an “enemy within” and conspiracy theories about alleged electoral fraud.
Democrats are taking advantage of this entire arsenal to attack the image of a strong leader that Trump wants to project to his followers. It is also a way to turn the tables after the former president spent the entire campaign attacking Biden for his age. The same rules of the game he established then are now working against him. If Trump wins the elections this November 5th, when he leaves the White House he will be 82 years old. Biden will leave office at 81 years old.
#Democrats #recover #age #argument #attack #grandfather #Trump
