Headline Roundup • October 21st, 2024
Partisans, Psychologists Split Over Whether Trump is Showing Signs of Mental Decline
Summary from the AllSides News Team
After a Trump rally took an unexpected musical turn last week, and reports that he canceled several appearances due to exhaustion, Vice President Harris and some others have been questioning Trump's mental acuity.
Key Quotes: On Friday, Harris said, “We really do need to ask ourselves: If he’s exhausted from being on the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job?” After Trump's monologue at the Al Smith dinner last week, former GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock commented, "a slurring confused Trump was swearing in front of the priests, doing his mean girls revenge list and showing his brain is circling the drain.”
The Details: Some psychologists have said Trump hasn't shown signs of mental decline; other psychologists say he has. Trump has released general statements attesting to his health, but has not released a medical report. If elected, Trump would be the oldest sitting president in U.S. history by the end of his tenure.
How the Media Covered It: Media Matters (Left bias) said there was an imbalance in how the media covered Trump versus Biden's age: "Five of the top U.S. newspapers had published nearly 10 times as many articles focused on just Biden’s age or mental acuity as focused on just Trump’s." Outlets on the left were much more likely to feature stories about Trump's age, while outlets on the right rarely mentioned it. The Daily Wire (Right bias) cited the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board's (Lean Right) opinion following a long interview with Trump, saying that they "found no basis for the attacks."
Featured Coverage of this Story
Former President Donald Trump's public appearances have grown increasingly disjointed and unfocused, according to a recent observation from CNN commentator and The New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
Speaking on CNN's The Source on Tuesday, Haberman said there was a discernible shift in Trump's speaking style, describing it as "more rambling" and "more incoherent" than in previous years.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
No evidence of former president Donald Trump’s alleged “mental decline” showed during Trump’s 90-minute interview with The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board last week.
The former president’s age, 78, and mental acuity have become targets lately of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign and other critics. The WSJ editorial board found no basis for the attacks during a lengthy interview with Trump on Thursday, however.
Brian Snyder; REUTERS
Donald Trump's repeated gaffes, non sequiturs and unusual behavior have opened the door to questions from opponents about the 78-year-old Republican presidential nominee's mental and physical fitness.
From bopping to the beat of his music playlist for nearly 40 minutes at a recent swing state town hall to his pro-Vladimir Putin blaming of Ukraine for Russia's invasion, to criticizing former President Abraham Lincoln for not "settling" the Civil War, to riffing on locker room gossip about a pro golfer's anatomy, Trump is providing plenty of fodder for rivals who've declared him "unhinged" and worse.
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