U.S. President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 17, 2025. Doug Mills/Pool via REUTERS REFILE
President Donald Trump’s high-energy delivery of fabricated numbers drew laughter and applause from social media users Wednesday night.
“This isn’t a speech, this is a primal scream of panic,” said Atlantic writer Tom Nichols, referring to Trump’s fast-talking “infomercial-style” delivery of bogus data and bragging.
“Two minutes in and we’ve already hit 11 on the bonkers scale,” Nichols continued, adding: “I’m very glad that all the networks are carrying this, people need to know their president is a raving narcissist.”
“Why is he screaming?” was a popular repeat statement also echoed by former Fox News, NBC News and CNN journalist David Shuster on X.
Other critics, like podcaster and former Republican National Committee spokesperson Tim Miller, noted Trump’s faltering poll numbers and posted on X that his campaign speech delivery “sounded like he’s trying to convince himself he’s done a good job.”
Other critics seized on the same argument with commenters saying “this is a man who is panicking.
Democratic strategist Matt McDermott agreed, sharing on X that “A nationally televised meltdown doesn’t change reality.”
McDermott then posted Wednesday's Quinnipiac poll asking “who is more responsible for the current economy,” which showed 57 percent of voters blaming Trump, to Biden’s 34 percent.
Other commenters, including ABC Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang, noted Trump’s claim in his speech that he "inherited a mess" and continues to blame Biden for economic woes.
“Latest CPI report shows Sept 2025 vs Sept 2024: Electricity prices up 5.1 percent; rent up 3.4 percent; lettuce up 4.2 percent; eggs down 1.3 percent; used car/truck prices up 5.1 percent; airfares up 3.2 percent; Health insurance up 4.2 percent; day care and preschool up 5.2 percent,” Wang posted on X.
Another Democratic strategist, Simon Rosenberg, posted on Bluesky that “Trump is so clearly insane. It’s a national emergency,” after earlier posting that Trump was “Lying. It’s all lies.”
Former Chicago Tribune Editor Mark Jacob, meanwhile, dismantled Trump’s fast-paced delivery of numbers, saying on Bluesky that “it’s a rhetorical mistake for Trump to throw so many numbers at people. It’s encouraging to see him screw up that way.”