Former President Donald Trump was widely criticized after he had a Freudian slip that showed what's been on his mind the whole time as he campaigns for a second term, and what he intends to bring to another Trump presidency—committing crime.
During a Fox News town hall with host Laura Ingraham this week, Trump promised that in the event he wins a second term:
"We're going to have very powerful crime."
Addressing his supporters, he added:
"And you're going to be proud of it again."
President Joe Biden's campaign quickly drew attention to Trump's mental acuity—or lack thereof—by sharing footage of his remarks and describing him as "confused" in a social media post.
You can see the post and hear what Trump said below.
Trump has claimed he is much healthier than Biden—even insisting that he excelled in a cognitive test. The test was actually the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a widely used screening assessment for detecting cognitive impairment.
Representative Ronny Jackson, a Texas Republican who previously served as the White House doctor during the Trump administration, vouched for Trump's health during a 2018 press conference, saying Trump's neurological functions are excellent and assuring the press corps he would be able to serve his entire term.
But in recent weeks, Trump's long history of memory flubs, social gaffes, off-the-cuff and disordered style of speaking, and consistently erratic—even confused—behavior has garnered more attention due to former South Carolina Governor and 2024 GOP rival Nikki Haley's calls for Trump to take a mental acuity test.
Trump also faces 91 criminal counts across four separate indictments encompassing both federal and state charges, the bulk of these related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. To hear the man who previously said he would be a dictator on "day one" admit crime would be on his agenda was no surprise.
His Freudian slip said it all.
The Fox News town hall gave Trump a platform to make other absurd statements.
Trump was roasted by Biden's campaign after claiming that his legal battles have now made him an "expert at law." He was also corrected by Ingraham after he claimed "you automatically have fraud" with mail-in voting," a statement that prompted Ingraham to remind him that Florida, where mail-in voting is implemented, delivered a significant victory for him in the 2020 election against Biden.
Additionally, the former President was criticized after claiming the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on "excessive fines" makes the fine levied in his New York fraud trial unconstitutional.
Last week, Judge Arthur Engoron imposed a financial penalty of $354.8 million on Trump, along with an additional sum of around $100 million in pre-judgment interest. The ruling came as a consequence of the judge's determination that Trump had artificially inflated his net worth with the intention of securing more favorable loan terms.
Trump proceeded to pull a copy of the 8th Amendment out of his pocket before reading the section that states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
