This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A new media narrative has emerged claiming the president's speech patterns show that he likely is suffering "cognitive decline" – but the president with the supposed problem is the 47th, not the 46th.
Amid increasing agreement in establishment media that Joe Biden was not serving with a full deck in the White House, now the Daily Beast is hoping to shift that diagnosis to President Donald Trump.
Writes the site's chief national correspondent, David Gardner: "Donald Trump's rambling speeches and stream-of-consciousness press briefings could be symptoms of his 'cognitive decline,' according to one of America's top rhetoric experts."
Noting Trump's age when he began his second term, 78, Gardner notes, "His father, Fred, was reportedly diagnosed with dementia in the early 1990s and died of pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease at age 93 in 1999."
The Daily Beast quotes Jennifer R. Mercieca, professor of Communication and Journalism at Texas A&M University:
"His lack of focus makes it seem as though he's experiencing cognitive decline, that his brain is not well-disciplined, and he's unable to maintain a thought and carry it through to a logical conclusion," she said.
Mercieca, the author of "Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump," added: "Trump sees himself as someone who is unscripted and not teleprompted. He likes to brand himself as a 'truthteller' who can and will say anything that comes to mind.
"Unfortunately, that makes his speeches difficult to follow as he digresses from thought to thought – seemingly connecting ideas at random."
The irony of Mercieca's analysis was not lost on X users. On posted: "Daily Beast From 2021-2025: The President is doing back flips and differential calculus just out of sight … we can barely keep up with him. Daily Beast Today: Forget what we just said."
X user Rusty Rockefeller addressed the premise of the report, saying, "You wouldn't know cognitive decline if it was shoehorned through a primary, and was in the White House for 3 and a half years only to be tossed on the curb after crumbling for a woman without any accomplishments."
Another user referenced an oft-mentioned excuse for Biden's speech difficulties: "It's just a stutter."
Meanwhile, the Daily Caller reported Wednesday that Trump has already become one of the "most accessible" presidents in modern history, with 111 media appearances in 138 days as president.
Reports the site, "The president's easy accessibility is a stark contrast from Biden, who held the fewest number of press conferences in modern times and had been hidden from the press by his aides to hide his cognitive decline, according to 'Original Sin,' a book written by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson."
Trump responded to 1,009 questions from journalists in his first month in office, which was seven times the amount of questions answered by Biden in that same period.
Notably, the 47th president does not use note cards with the names, photos and affiliations of reporters as a tool in press conferences, as did his predecessor.
The Daily Beast insists, however, "Trump has shocked audiences with sudden changes of subject and repeated topics and claims," specifically citing his weekend address to the graduating class at West Point.
