Another Trump moment
With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, Democratic Party leaders and candidates have been focusing on the issues they think will work best to defeat the Republicans. For example, Democrats have been hammering “affordability” regarding gasoline prices, food prices, healthcare costs, childcare costs, etc., and that is certainly an important issue to stress.
At the same time, Democratic voters have a crucial role to play, besides just showing up to vote. One area where Democrats can make a difference is to get out their computers, tablets or phones and share pictures and videos of Donald Trump. We can hear you ask, “What? I already do that!” Well, we’re talking about specific pictures and videos showing Trump falling asleep, rambling incoherently, and in obvious declining physical and mental health.
This kind of focus on Trump’s physical and cognitive decline should work well for several reasons. First, Republicans (and their media supplicants) hammered President Joe Biden over his age, stamina, and fitness for office, often on very thin evidence, including Biden’s life-long stutter. During the 2024 campaign, Republicans repeatedly argued that age-related concerns about Biden raised questions of leadership and capacity. That messaging proved effective, helping make Biden’s age a defining story of the election cycle and driving Biden out of the race after just one debate with Trump.
Second, Donald Trump is the oldest person ever inaugurated as U.S. president, and he just turned 80. So, now that Republicans have made physical and mental fitness such a major concern for elections, it’s Trump’s turn, and the evidence against Trump is way worse. The incidents where Trump has had physical and/or cognitive issues, such as slurred speech, difficulty drinking water, difficulty walking, etc. have been accumulating, and are captured in videos or photos for all to see. We have been posting them at least as far back as 2019. Since then, Trump’s swollen legs and ankles have been diagnosed as a circulatory problem i.e. chronic veinous insufficiency (CVI). Trump has also appeared tired, disengaged, or asleep during many official events and meetings, earning him nicknames like “Dozy Don.” In one striking exchange at a recent U.S. House hearing, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed he had never seen Trump fall asleep in a meeting, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu confronted Rubio with video clips of Trump falling asleep while Rubio was in the room just a few feet away. More recently, Trump appeared disoriented at the G7 meeting in France.
Even the largely Republican-owned news media have noticed Trump’s deterioration. For example, Forbes recently reported that there are “lingering questions after Trump’s physical and health checkup”. Other media outlets have discussed the bruising or discoloration on Trump’s hands, including a “concerning new mark”, often accompanied by visible concealer makeup, which some speculate may be due to infusions. The Trump White House has offered explanations including frequent handshaking, aspirin use, and minor injuries, but such explanations have been increasingly incredible as the images accumulate.
By sharing these images, videos and stories, Democratic voters can make the issue of Trump’s deteriorating physical and mental health (including questions of dementia) so high-velocity that the media will be pressured to discuss it more. This helps put Republicans in a box for the 2026 midterm elections. While Trump isn’t on the ballot, he might as well be. Democrats are trying to turn the elections into a referendum on Trump, a wise move given not just Trump’s declining condition, but also issues like affordability, the Iran War fiasco, Trump’s tariffs, etc. As the campaign takes shape, Republicans may discover that the most effective attack by Democratic voters is the one Republicans frequently used just a couple of years ago.
Photo by FolsomNatural, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/QUx00m
