The president appeared to experience a system malfunction during a self-indulgent speech at the White House on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump, 79, drew attention to his declining health with a confounding word salad at an event celebrating him as the “Undisputed Champion of Coal.”
“I’m proud to officially name the undispuut…” Trump said, before muttering unintelligible gibberish for about two seconds.
“When did this come out? Mr. Speaker,” he said, before appearing to remember his lines and getting back on track. “The undisputed champion of beautiful, clean coal.”
“We have to proceed, always—don’t use the word coal, you know, it needs a PR job,” he added.
The strange slip-up generated buzz almost immediately on social media, with internet users, including Trump’s former opponent Kamala Harris, commenting on the president’s supposedly diminishing mental faculties.
“Trump, slurring: I’m proud to officially name the…undishpu…the…jshhhh…whendidthiscomeout,” wrote the Headquarters account, which is operated by Harris’ team.
Trump’s trolling rival, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, couldn’t miss an opportunity to slam the president, with his press office posting the footage on X. “The sundowning starts earlier every day,” the caption read.
When contacted by the Daily Beast for comment, White House Spokesman Davis Ingle said, “President Trump is the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history. While the deranged and failing Daily Beast has their lightweight, glue-sniffing interns push baseless conspiracy theories — President Trump spent the day unleashing energy dominance, lowering costs, and putting the American people first.”
Also, during the appearance, as the president was speaking about the benefits of coal-based energy, he took a tangent to one of his favorite topics: windmills.
“I’m not a big fan of those crazy windmills,” Trump said, mimicking a windmill’s circular motion with his finger. “They’re made in China but not used by China. Let’s look for a couple of wind farms in China. See if you can find one.”
China is the undisputed leader in wind and solar power, according to The Guardian, with nearly twice as much renewable energy under construction as the rest of the world combined.
He called the inanimate objects “losers” before saying, “You’re supposed to make money with energy, not lose money with energy.”
Aside from his speech slip-ups, the president’s right hand also appeared discolored again, as the Daily Beast has reported extensively.
Trump’s health has been in decline for months, from cankle appearances to awkward descents down the stairs of Air Force One; the president is now repeatedly finding himself having to defend his multiple gaffes.
Following his speech, the president was presented with a trophy of a golden miner by the Washington Coal Club, which designated him as the “Undisputed Champion of Coal.”
