Donald Trump’s confusion of Barack Obama and Joe Biden at a rally in Virginia on Saturday raised further questions about the age of the potential Republican presidential nominee, who has made a string of such gaffes.
It also comes at a time when there are similar concerns about Biden. Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden are 77 and 81 years old, respectively, making them the oldest candidates in U.S. history to run for president.
“Putin has so little respect for Obama that he starts throwing the word nuclear around. You heard that. Nuclear. He’s starting to talk about nuclear weapons today,” Trump said Saturday night in Richmond. Told.
The crowd reportedly fell silent when Trump mentioned President Obama, who left office more than seven years ago. This is the third time Trump has made a blunder in the past six months.
Other gaffes by the former US president include confusing Republican rival Nikki Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Haley, 52, ran against Trump in the race for the Republican nomination and has continued to lose several primaries, but has criticized Trump and Biden. grumpy old people in her campaign ad.
Trump’s mistake came a day after Biden twice upset Ukraine and Gaza by announcing that the United States would airdrop humanitarian supplies to Palestinians in Gaza who are starving to death due to Israeli shelling and blockades.
“We will be working with our friends in Jordan and others who are airlifting additional food and supplies to Ukraine in the coming days,” Biden said Friday. The United States “will seek to open other routes to Ukraine, including perhaps a maritime corridor,” he added.
White House officials later clarified that Biden was referring to Gaza, not Ukraine. The gaffe had been changed in his transcript.
Questions about Biden’s age have intensified in recent months.
His latest job loss came just days after he was declared “fit for duty” during his annual medical examination. White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor said Mr. Biden was “fully carrying out his responsibilities without granting any exemptions or accommodations.”
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new New York Times/Siena College Poll It found that 73% of registered voters surveyed think Biden is too old to be an effective president, including 61% of those who voted for Biden in 2020. It is. Opinion polls said he was “too old” to be an effective president.
Although there are political elements to both criticisms of the age issue, the decline in cognitive function that accompanies aging is a reality.
As people age, changes occur in all parts of the body, including the brain.according to National Institute on Aging (NIA) Certain parts of the brain shrink, including those important for learning and other complex mental activities. Communication between neurons may become less efficient. And blood flow in the brain may decrease.
However, healthy older adults can learn new skills, form new memories, and improve their vocabulary and language skills. The NIA is conducting research on the so-called cognitive super-seniors, a minority of people in their 80s and 90s who have memory abilities comparable to those 20 to 30 years younger.
