Trump’s verbal slips could weaken his attacks on Biden’s age

Former U.S. President Donald Trump (age 77), who is running again for president next year, was recently spotted mistaking city or group names in presidential campaigns. Trump, who had attacked President Joe Biden (age 81) for his frequent blunders and health conditions, is being criticized from competitors in the Republican Party as “having lost vitality."

The New York Times reported on Monday that when Trump addressed an audience in Sioux City, Iowa, during a presidential campaign, he said, “A very big hello to a place where we’ve done very well, Sioux Falls. Thank you very much, Sioux Falls.” Sioux Falls is a city 120 kilometers away from Sioux City, in South Dakota. He corrected himself when an aide who stood next to him on stage whispered in his ear.

At a campaign in New Hampshire on Oct. 23, Trump referred to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas as “Humas” several times. While praising Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, he referred to Orban as “leader of Turkey.” In a speech in September this year, the former president declared that he beat former President Barack Obama in the 2016 election, but the competitor at that time had been Hillary Clinton.

“In 2016, he was free-spirited and campaigned across the country. But he is now a different person. It is sad to see Trump losing his vitality,” said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who ranks second after former President Trump in approval ratings for the Republican presidential nomination on Oct 30.


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