Trump Biographer Raises Alarms About His Memory
Former President Donald Trump gives the keynote address at Turning Point Action's "The People's Convention" on June 15, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. On June 17, 2024, a Trump biographer raised alarms about the former president's memory.
A Donald Trump biographer recently raised alarms about the former president's memory and mental acuity.
On Monday, Ramin Setoodeh, author of Apprentice in Wonderland, about Trump, appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe to speak about his book and how the former president acted in a number of interviews together.
"Over the weekend, he was talking about how [President] Joe Biden needs to take a cognitive test, 'Joe Biden isn't all there,'" Setoodeh said. "Donald Trump had severe memory issues. As the journalist who spent the most time with him, I have to say he couldn't remember things. He couldn't even remember me. We spent an hour together in 2021 in May and then a few months later I went back to Trump tower to talk to him about his time in the White House...and he had no recollection of our lengthy interview that we had.
"I think that the American public really needs to see this portrait of Donald Trump because this shows what he is like and who he is and who he has always been."
In a statement to Newsweek, Trump communications director Steven Cheung said: "President Trump was aware of who this individual was throughout the interview process, but this 'writer' is a nobody and insignificant so of course he never made an impression. After recognizing the importance of The Apprentice and its significant cultural impact on a global scale, this 'writer' has now chosen to allow Trump Derangement Syndrome to rot his brain like so many other losers whose entire existence revolves around President Trump."
The comments by Setoodeh came in the lead-up to the 2024 election, which is shaping up as a rematch of the 2020 race between Trump and President Joe Biden. Both have faced questions about their age, with many Republicans questioning Biden's mental acuity at 81.
Many Republicans have continued to seek the release of audio recordings of the president and Special Counsel Robert Hur, following an investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents. Hur's report described Biden as an "elderly man with a poor memory."
On Wednesday, the House voted 216-207—almost entirely along party lines—to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to comply with a request from lawmakers to hand over the recordings. The Justice Department said Friday that it will not prosecute Garland.
Trump recently celebrated his 78th birthday and a poll from February found a majority of voters saying both candidates are "too old" for the White House.
The poll, conducted by ABC News/Ipsos, found that 59 percent of respondents believe that both Biden and Trump are too old to serve another term as president. According to the poll, 27 percent said "only Biden" was too old and 3 percent said "only Trump" was too old.
This month, the Wall Street Journal published a report detailing that Biden has recently shown signs of "slipping" amid questions surrounding his age and mental acuity. It said that mostly Republicans who have had closed-door conversations with Biden expressed concern over his age but added that "some Democrats said that he showed his age in several of the exchanges."
The White House quickly pushed back on the report, with spokesman Andrew Bates telling Axios that "It's a little surprising that the Wall Street Journal thought it was breaking news when congressional Republicans told them the same false claims they've spouted on Fox News for years, but it's also telling that the only individuals willing to smear the president in this story are political opponents afraid to use their names—plus one proven liar."
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