Donald Trump got so lost and confused trying to attack Joe Biden’s mental fitness for the presidency, I have to think he did himself more harm than Biden.
As I wrote in my last post, Hannity changed the subject, rather than challenge a word from Dear Leader, as he whined that having done his job and helped out New York during its COVID-19 crisis, he should not have to suffer the indignity of having a Black Lives Matter mural painted in front of Trump Tower nor be investigated for any crimes.
The subject Hannity moved to was “the age question.” First, he played a montage of selectively edited clips of Biden supposedly looking senile.
Then Hannity asked the laziest, most ignorant man to ever live in the White House – and who has persistent questions about his physical limitations - “Mr. President, in your view, does he have the alertness -- trying to be charitable here -- the strength and stamina?”
“Well, I don't think it's the age,” Trump said, citing some of his elderly rich pals as examples.
But Biden? He’s been “taken over by the radical left,” according To Trump, and “has no clue what they are doing and what they're getting him into.”
Hannity must have figured that's not a winning message for his Bedtime BFF. He tried to push Trump back into the “senile Biden” lane.
HANNITY: You hear stories now, and Thomas Friedman and The New York Times is wanting to now create all new conditions for Joe Biden to agree to debate you. Now, he apparently says that he has many cognitive tests. He's tested all the time cognitively. Maybe they -- maybe he will release those records, and maybe he will release his medical records. Everybody wants to see -- seemingly see everything about you.
Now, would you agree to any new conditions? Or does he have to debate, like it's always happened? And do you think he's trying to back out of debating you?
First of all, when Biden said he’s “constantly tested,” he strongly implied he was talking about his public behavior, not a medical test. His full comment was, "I’ve been tested and I’m constantly tested. Look, all you gotta do is watch me, and I can hardly wait to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man I'm running against."
Second, immediately preceding that remark, which came during a June 30 appearance (in answer to a question from a Fox News reporter, by the way), Biden said he commits to three debates under the conditions that have been traditional and customary:
Q: Will you commit to three debates?
BIDEN: Yes! I’m committed to following the national debate group that sets up these debates, who they pick as the moderators, three of them. It has been this way for a long time. … I commit to those.
In reality, it’s Trump who has been demanding new conditions.
But Trump didn’t seem to know what his own desire for debates is, much less what Biden wants. He meandered off into a bizarre series of digressions. Hannity tried hard to keep his BFF on track but it was to no avail:
TRUMP: Well, the answer is yes, absolutely [Biden is trying to back out of debating].
But he -- he meant the COVID tests, the COVID tests. He didn't mean cognitive. He meant COVID.
HANNITY: No, he said cognitive. I'm pretty sure he...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Well, I know. But he didn't mean that, because you don't have those tests that often. He said, I take them all the time.
And, no, he meant to COVID. But I think he was confused by the questions and the words and everything else. He didn't mean that, because he hasn't taken any cognitive test, because he couldn't pass one.
I actually took one when I -- very recently, when I -- when I was -- the radical left were saying, is he all there? Is he all there? And I proved I was all there, because I got -- I aced it. I aced the test.
And he should take the same exact test, a very standard test. I took it at Walter Reed Medical Center in front of doctors. And they were very surprised. They said, that's an unbelievable thing. Rarely does anybody do what you just did.
But he should take that same test.
But, no, he has been totally taken over, and I think it's because he doesn't understand what's going on. I watched him today. I watched him over the last couple of weeks. And I look forward to debating him, but it looks like he wants to try to get out of the debates.
I think we are doing very well in the polls. I think, if you look at the different states, I think we are doing very well. We are rapidly rising.
I was with the president of Mexico yesterday. We had an incredible day. We have tremendous Hispanic support. We have tremendous African American support. I think we have great support, period.
You look at the boats, you look at the bikers, you look at everything that's happening in our country, there is great spirit, spirit like nobody's ever seen before, actually. And there's no spirit for Joe.
TRUMP COGNITIVE TEST FACT CHECK: As Justin Baragona at The Daily Beast noted, the cognitive test Trump claimed to have taken “very recently” appears to be the Montreal Cognitive Assessment he took during his 2018 physical exam, which he passed. But as The New York Times explained, that test was hardly proof that Trump’s mind is in great shape.
The test … is a 10-minute screening exam meant to highlight possible problems with thinking and memory. But it is by no means definitive, nor even diagnostic, experts pointed out.
Screening tests like these cannot rule out declines in reasoning or memory, or difficulties with planning or judgment. The test is just too blunt an instrument, and for many high-functioning people, too easy.
TRUMP POLLING FACT CHECK: Trump is doing so badly in the polls, U.S. News & World Report gives Biden a “decisive lead over Trump” in the Electoral College. His approval rating from African Americans is currently 10%, down from 16%, according to a recent Gallup poll. The same poll finds his approval among Hispanics is at 26%, down from 34%.
In other words, Trump either deeply misunderstands his poll numbers or he deliberately lied about them. Neither is a sign of good mental health.
You can watch Trump throw senility stones at Biden from a very glassy house below, from the July 9, 2020 Hannity.
(Trump image via screen grab)
I really don’t expect there to be any debates because Trump’s handlers will find ways to avoid exposing their beloved leader’s true cognitive capacity.
1. eat a hamburger or hot dog. He can’t.
2. Drink a bottle of water or soda without spilling it all over himself. He can’t.
3. Sit back in a chair and cross his legs like a normal person. He can’t.
4. Walk a straight line for 50 yards. He can’t.