Technical issues and claims that former President Donald Trump slurred his words and suffered from a lisp overshadowed his big interview with Elon Musk on X Spaces.
The interview, which marked Trump's return to the platform after the former owners suspended him in 2021 following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, stirred widespread debate over the former president's mental state and oratory abilities
Prominent left-wing accounts, including Kamala HQ, highlighted the slurring.
Trump, slurring, says he’s okay with climate change and rising sea levels because he thinks he’ll “have more oceanfront property” pic.twitter.com/AmdrdXCn0v
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 13, 2024
The purported slurring caused numerous terms to trend on X including "dentures," given that many believed the speech issues could be linked to fake teeth.
Trump also appeared to have a lisp, a claim backed up by numerous audio clips.
"Trump sounds like he has a lisp," one user said.
Trump sounds like he has a lisp pic.twitter.com/3C8fhUmfdE
— Brennan Murphy (@brenonade) August 13, 2024
The phrase "Daffy Duck," a cartoon character known for having a lisp, trended on X not long after. Trump also garnered comparisons to "Sylvester," another cartoon character with a lisp.
"Sufferin succotash! Sounds like Trump has a major lisp," another added.
Some users on X suggested that the slurring and lisp could be caused by audio compression issues on the platform.
"The Trump audio is no good," D.C.-based reporter Spencer Allan Brooks said. "Sounds like he has a lisp. Bad mic? Terrible audio compression?"
The Trump audio is no good. Sounds like he has a lisp. Bad mic? Terrible audio compression? pic.twitter.com/6JFhlSAs26
— Spencer Allan Brooks (@SpencerSays) August 13, 2024
But others quickly pointed out previous incidents in which Trump appeared to have issues speaking as well.
"Podcasters claim Trump's apparent lisp today is caused by audio compression issues on Twitter but he has been slurring his words more and he did sound like this one day in 2017," reporter Robert Mackey wrote.
Podcasters claim Trump's apparent lisp today is caused by audio compression issues on Twitter but he has been slurring his words more and he did sound like this one day in 2017: https://t.co/zz7qswivWR pic.twitter.com/EkdBxUBKBK
— Robert Mackey (@RobertMackey) August 13, 2024
S.V. Dáte, the White House correspondent for HuffPost, said he reached out to the Trump campaign to ask why the former president seemed to be slurring his words and lisping.
In response, the campaign reportedly said: "Must be your shitty hearing. Get your ears checked out."
I asked the Trump campaign why the coup-attempting criminal former president is slurring his words and lisping. The campaign's response: pic.twitter.com/M2H6hLFFyJ
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) August 13, 2024
But this isn't the first time Trump has been accused of potential cognitive issues. Back In 2017 after slurring his words while making remarks at the White House, viewers suggested Trump potentially had a stroke
At that time and this time, there is no evidence that Trump suffered any serious medical episodes. But given Trump's lengthy campaign against President Joe Biden's fitness for office, he accidentally raised scrutiny on himself.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
