The term malaphor means when two or more colloquial phrases or idioms get confused and combined to create something nonsensical. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), malaphors are a common symptom of frontotemporal dementia or other cognitive impairments.
So when a person seeks to accuse someone of being unintelligent, their use of malaphors is ironic and possibly very telling—narcissists will always accuse others of their own faults and failures.
Speaking at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Tuesday, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump attempted to mock former Democratic President Joe Biden in front of a hand-selected audience of U.S. Army soldiers who self-identified as loyal Trump supporters.
The audience had booed and cheered in all the expected places with minimal prompting.
But things got awkward when Trump tried to claim President Biden was an unintelligent person throughout his life, but was now in obvious decline. But these are common criticisms long aimed at Trump, not Biden, by people who taught or attended school with him as a young person or who have known Trump for decades, like family and business contemporaries.
Trump told the crowd:
"I’ve known this guy for a long time. He was never the sharpest bulb."
You can watch the moment here:
In whichever idiom Trump was unable to recall, bulbs are bright and tools are sharp, but he plowed on with his speech. The NIH reports those with frontotemporal dementia or other forms of cognitive decline lack the ability of self-correction or self-monitoring of what comes out of their mouths.
Trump went on to say:
"But you know what he was? He wasn’t a radical left lunatic."
"He never dreamt about open borders. He never said that when he was of sound mind, which actually was a very long time ago."
It was another attempt by Trump to claim President Biden had been unfit to serve as the 46th President and was actually being controlled by a group of handlers. This is another criticism aimed at Trump since his first term, but made more often and with more evidence in his second.
People soundly mocked Trump for his latest in a long line of verbal fumbles which include misspoken names or words, slurred speech, mispronunciations, and unintelligible gibberish.
trump said "Biden's not the sharpest bulb?"Yes. trump is a very sharp bulb. Everyone knows that.
— New Mexican (@mejicana.bsky.social) June 12, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Trump on Biden: "He was never the sharpest bulb."When were bulbs sharp? Was it back when knives were bright?
— TomR (@thedrummer.bsky.social) June 12, 2025 at 12:01 AM
"He was never the sharpest bulb"? Um, someone want to explain to Dear Leader that a bulb is only sharp if it's been shattered? Trump doesn't even understand simple analogies.
— Sister Stone (Unshackled) (@stonecircle.bsky.social) June 11, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Embarrassed laughter at Fort Liberty, where Trump calls Biden incompetent and then immediately proceeds to describe Biden as not the [sic:] “sharpest bulb”.Obviously, tools are sharp and bulbs are bright, but even with a teleprompter, Trump does not realize what he is saying.
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— Randahl Fink (@randahl.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy) June 12, 2025 at 6:12 AM
Trump tried to diss Biden and it was priceless! He said “ I knew this guy (Biden) a long time, he was never the sharpest bulb” 😬. Ok genius. We get it. You’re the brightest knife ever!!
— Good Trouble (@lebergerdavid.bsky.social) June 11, 2025 at 7:13 AM
President Biden announced in May that he was diagnosed with a metastatic prostate cancer. He's currently undergoing treatment.
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