Remember when Trump's gaffe set the internet on fire?
Donald Trump is not known for his eloquence, and at times, the former president has been known to misspeak or stumble over words. These instances often lead to online mockery, and a blunder by Trump on stage in May was no exception.
While speaking during a campaign rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin on May 1st, the former president struggled to get out the four-syllable world infrastructure. It seemed like an innocent fumble on Trump’s part but it set the internet on fire.
Trump was trying to criticize Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure package when he accidentally made a fool of himself with his butchered pronunciation of infrastructure, which led to him stumbling over his words.
″[It didn’t] work out too well ― $1.2 trillion for their fake infra-struck-er-sher par-,” Trump said according to a quote of his comments from Indy100, which also reported the former president previously had trouble pronouncing ‘America’.
A short clip of the former president’s word salad was posted to Twitter by user Acyn, the senior digital editor for Midas Touch, which describes itself as an independently owned and operated news website.
Responses to the clip varied from degrading to just plain mean with one user writing: “This might explain why OrangeJesus kept promising infrastructure week while he was president… He just couldn’t pronounce the word.”
Another commentator jokingly wrote: “Trump’s age is showing again,” while another said that “Dementia J Trump misfires,” alluding to the fact that the former president might be suffering from cognitive decline.
Worries over Trump’s cognitive decline have been discussed openly in the media more and more as it became clear the former president would again stand as the Republican presidential nominee in 2024.
In March 2024, Dr. John Gartner PhD Circulated a petition via Change.org that aimed to bring together professionals who agreed Trump was “showing unmistakable signs strongly suggesting dementia, based on his public behavior and informant reports.”
Dr. Gartner is a fierce critic of Donald Trump and recently explained to the British news publication The Mirror that the former president’s inability to stay awake during his hush money trial in New York was yet another sign of his cognitive decline.
"He can't control it," Dr. John Gartner told The Mirror. He added: "To uncontrollably fall asleep during the day is something that's very common among patients with dementia." Whether or not this will affect Trump in November has yet to be seen.