Dean Obeidallah: Trump’s mental gaffes 'raise red flags' about his 'cognitive abilities'

Many Never Trump conservatives have been arguing that former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's attacks on GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump have been much too tepid. Haley, they argue, has held back way too much and never truly gone after Trump with a vengeance.

Haley, however, has recently questioned Trump's mental fitness in light of some recent misstatements he has made on the campaign trail. Trump, for example, confused Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) when he blamed her for the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.

Haley, Trump said, failed Congress from a security standpoint that day. But Haley has never served in Congress.

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In a biting op-ed published by CNN on January 21, radio host Dean Obeidallah stresses that Haley is right to be questioning Trump's mental fitness — and that Trump's recent misstatements are worse than run-of-the-mill gaffes.

"In truth," Obeidallah writes, "the differences between Haley and Pelosi are substantial, and the two prominent politicians are hard to mix up — starting with the fact Pelosi is a frequent Trump antagonist who served as Democratic speaker of the House, while Haley is a Republican who once served in Trump's own administration…. Haley is 100 percent correct to raise red flags about Trump's cognitive abilities. The president of the United States must be mentally fit to do the job."

Obeidallah continues, "To be clear, Haley also raised questions during her campaign event about President Joe Biden's potential cognitive issues. But to be blunt, those issues — as well as concerns about Biden's age — have been litigated extensively in the media, which allows voters to make up their own minds on the subject. By contrast, Trump — who will turn 78 in June — has been subjected to much less scrutiny about his mental acuity, despite a series of mental gaffes that led conservative television host Megyn Kelly to raise alarm bells last month."

READ MORE: 'Losing his marbles': Trump is getting a pass on his mental acuity

Read Dean Obeidallah's full CNN op-ed at this link.