Former President Donald Trump faces the same scrutiny that President Joe Biden did following his disastrous debate performance in June, which led to a loss of confidence from his own party and ultimately his withdrawal from the race.
That's according to Peter Baker of The New York Times, which reported Monday that the 78-year-old Trump may exhibit "more energy and speaks with more volume" than Biden at 81, but he, too, "has mixed up names, confused facts and stumbled over his points."
"Mr. Trump’s rambling speeches, sometimes incoherent statements and extreme outbursts have raised questions about his own cognitive health and, according to polls, stimulated doubts among a majority of voters," Baker wrote.
Among the recent issues that have raised red flags among observers are Trump's constant unprompted references to fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter when discussing migrants, a recent rant in which he talked about being eaten by a shark and whether boat batteries would electrocute people, and a minutes-long explanation of his child care policy that critics found barely coherent.
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He also confused former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), the latter of whom ran against him in the primary but is now endorsing his campaign.
Stephanie Grisham, Trump's former press secretary who turned against him in response to the Jan. 6 attacks, told The Times that the debate format is likely to prevent Trump from looking too exhausted — but said she believes "his ramblings are certainly getting worse."
"I don’t know if it’s his age or some kind of mental decline. I think the media, general public and certainly his supporters have grown desensitized to a man who lies and rambles all the time, and that’s unfortunate," she said.
The Trump campaign is already attempting to warn of the possibility that Harris could outshine Trump's debating skills. However, they notably also tried to pre-excuse a loss at the Biden debate they ultimately won, with Trump repeatedly suggesting with no evidence in the lead-up that Biden would be given performance-enhancing drugs to maintain his energy levels.
