President Donald Trump was mocked after he flubbed the pronunciation of fallen U.S. Navy Sailor Shannon Kent's position as a cryptologic technician while paying tribute to her during an appearance at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.
Cryptologic technicians are responsible for detecting, tracking, and analyzing radar signals across air, sea, and land platforms. They manage advanced electronic surveillance systems, including signal interceptors, recording tools, data analysis workstations, and integrated computer networks to gather and interpret intelligence.
But that wasn't at all what Trump said:
"As a linguist, translator and cryptolo-jo-jik technician, Shannon worked alongside elite special force units."
You can hear what Trump said in the video below.
"Cryptolo-jo-jik" what?! Yeah... people mocked the president immediately.
The president is of course known for his many, many grammar flubs—for instance, in February, he couldn't seem to get the pronunciation of "TikTok" quite right while talking to reporters and referred to "Tic Tac" more than once, confusing it with the popular breath mint brand. He has, without a doubt, an impressive history of verbal gaffes.
It's been suggested that one of the reasons that he messes up oral communication so much is because he doesn't read. In fact, writer David Graham once suggested in a piece for The Atlantic that "Trump’s indifference to the printed word has been apparent for some time," in large part because many within his first administration said he didn't even read his daily intelligence briefings.
Of course, Trump isn't going to change anytime soon, so we can expect many more flubs in the future to compete against the time he claimed he "doesn't want pronouns," the time he couldn't even remember the name of his own White House physician, referring to Ronny Jackson as "Ronny Johnson" during a campaign event in Milwaukee during the 2024 election cycle.
