'He’s not a smart man': Ex-DHS official says 'low IQ' Trump 'shows clear signs of decline'

12 March 2024

The party line in right-wing media outlets is that while President Joe Biden, now 81, is in a state of mental decline, likely 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, who is 77, remains youthful and energetic.

But Biden's defenders have countered that in fact, the president has been a much better and more disciplined speaker — especially during his aggressive, fiery 2024 State of the Union speech. And Trump, they note, has had more than his share of verbal stumbles in 2024, including confusing former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California).

In an article published on March 12, Salon's Chauncey DeVega examines Trump's mental state. And the interviewees are worried.

One of them is Miles Taylor, a Never Trump conservative and former U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official.

Taylor told Salon, "Donald Trump has apparent repeated memory lapses, difficulty synthesizing complex information, disinterest in nuance, and an obviously low IQ. He's not a smart man, and some would say he shows clear signs of decline. If it were a screenplay, a wannabe gangster with dementia might be an oddball comedy. But on the national stage, it's a civic tragedy."

Liberal Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch is also concerned about Trump's mental fitness.

Bunch told Salon, "Clearly, Donald Trump is struggling to hold a coherent thought or find the proper word, and I notice it seems to be increasing every time he gives a speech. Everyone ages differently, and I think of my dad — who just turned 87 and (is) totally lucid in conversation, although he does occasionally forget a name, as do I, at 65. I'm not at all an expert on brain health, but based on what's observable — and also, the folks who are experts whose analyses I've read — I think there's a real problem."

Journalist/author Jared Yates Sexton views Trump as a "deeply unwell person."

Sexton told Salon, "What we’re dealing with is an abusive, deteriorating man who is somehow even getting worse. Fascism feeds on that unwellness and accelerates the process until it leaves a husk, a host — and that's what we’re watching in real time. Everything else stems from that, and that, coupled with the rhetoric, tells a story we should all be listening to."

Sexton added, "As I say all the time, a healthy political system and American society would have rejected Donald Trump in 2016 like so much bad food. That it didn't betrays a sickness."

Chauncey DeVega's full article for Salon is available at this link.

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