Donald Trump, 78, has claimed that Barack Obama, 63, is “exhausted” and “looking older” – hours after the Republican candidate pulled out of yet another campaign event, amid growing speculation about his own age and mental acuity.
Trump – the oldest presidential candidate in US history – spoke at a campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Tuesday night, where he lashed out at 63-year-old Obama, who was in Detroit with Eminem rallying in support of Kamala Harris.
“I’m glad they’re bringing him out. The reason they’re bringing him out – because he doesn’t even want to do it. I think he’s exhausted,” Trump said in an apparent effort to shift the spotlight onto his opponents.
“I watched him talking. I think the guy’s exhausted.”
He added: “And I never say a guy’s looking old. But he’s looking a little bit older, isn’t he? You know, there’s nothing wrong with that. But he’s exhausted.”
The Republican presidential candidate also repeatedly called Obama “a jerk” and said North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un agrees with his assessment.
Meanwhile, in Detroit, Obama rapped on stage after being introduced by Eminem as they campaigned in the Michigan city, which Trump insulted recently.
Trump’s comments come after he has backed out of a number of campaign appearances in recent days, amid reports the 78-year-old is “exhausted.”
Before appearing in Greenville, Trump had been expected to join Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard for a health-focused virtual town hall on Tuesday afternoon. But he canceled at the last minute, with his team citing “changes in Trump’s schedule.”
The Republican has also backed out of planned interviews with CNBC’s Squawk Box, the Shade Room podcast, and NBC.
The series of canceled or rescheduled appearances in recent days have fueled reports that Trump is becoming too “exhausted” to fully campaign in the tight race against Harris.
Trump’s team pushed back on that claim, denying he is worn out from the campaign trail, calling it "unequivocally false."
“President Trump is running laps around Kamala Harris on the campaign trail,” Trump national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week. “And has done media interviews every day this week. He has more energy and a harder work ethic than anyone in politics.”
Trump’s age and his mental faculties have come increasingly under scrutiny ever since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race. The Trump campaign previously used the president’s age as a line of attack but now find themselves on the receiving end.
If he takes back the White House next month, Trump will be the oldest person in US history to be elected president.
Mental health experts have spoken out about Trump’s cognitive “decline,” which the former president has responded to by calling for Harris to take a cognitive test.
Experts previously told The Independent that Trump appears to “have lost touch with reality,” as exhibited by his “rambling” speeches and “erratic” debate performance on September 10.
Dr. Ben Michaelis, a clinical psychologist who has previously carried out cognitive assessments for the New York Supreme Court, told The Independent that Trump is “really not in a strong cognitive place,” while Allen Frances, professor and the chair emeritus of psychiatry at the Duke School of Medicine, said it “seems likely” that Trump “has deteriorated a great deal.”
Trump claimed he has undergone two cognitive tests and “aced” them both.
