Trump’s Interview with Elon Musk Raises Concerns Over Health Amid Noticeable Speech Issues
PHOTOS: AFP, REUTERS
Donald Trump’s recent interview with Elon Musk was intended to showcase the former president’s enduring influence, but it instead sparked widespread concern about his health. During the interview, Trump congratulated Musk, saying, “Congratulations because I see you broke every record on the book with so many millions of people and it’s an honor, we view that as an honor. And you do want to silence of certain voices, usually, those are voices that have something to say that is constructive and so, we have to consider it an honor.”
The interview, delayed by over 40 minutes, quickly became a focal point on social media due to what many listeners perceived as a noticeable lisp and slurring in Trump’s speech. One user commented, “I am listening to Trump Space and I need to know why it sounds like Trump has a lisp or speaking like he bit his tongue. Something is not right!!”
Another user tweeted, “It really is striking to hear Trump’s frequent vocal issues in this event. It sounds like some combination of slurring and an audible lisp. If it was audio compression issues, it would be happening to the host as well, but it’s not. Whatever it is, it’s not good. #TrumpIsDone.” Another added, “I went in for a few minutes and the slurring was so bad from Trump… the amount of breaks and imma made it nearly incoherent.”
However, Trump supporters quickly came to his defense, dismissing the criticism as exaggerated. One supporter wrote, “For all the doubters claiming Trump was lisping on the call, it was just Spaces compression. Here he is recorded on a phone in the same conversation sounding perfectly normal.” Another argued, “These were the people who freaked out over criticizing Biden’s ‘stutter.’ Now they’re talking about a non-existent lisp because they can’t touch the substance of the conversation.” One user even added, “But who cares if he did have a lisp? It’s those small imperfections that make us perfectly human. He’s still the GOAT.”
When pressed on the issue, Trump’s spokesperson Steven Cheung dismissed concerns, quipping, “Must be your hearing.” Despite this, the incident has fueled more than just online debate. Clinical psychologist Ben Michaelis suggested, “There’s reasonable evidence suggestive of forms of dementia. The reduction in complexity of sentences and vocabulary does lead you to a certain picture of cognitive diminishment,” as reported by OK Magazine.
Michaelis further noted, “Tangentiality certainly amped up and it’s difficult to follow him. You’d expect some cognitive diminishment, of course, he’s 78 years old — if he was your grandfather you wouldn’t expect anything different. He just happens to be running for president.”
The interview also drew criticism from the Harris campaign, which seized the opportunity to highlight, “Trump, slurring, says he’s okay with climate change and rising sea levels because he thinks he’ll ‘have more oceanfront property’.” The incident has added fuel to ongoing discussions about Trump’s fitness for office as the 2024 election approaches.
