Brutal Video Shows Pace of Trump’s Cognitive Decline Between Debates

CNN made a video comparing Donald Trump’s debate answers against Hillary Clinton in 2016 and his answers from Tuesday’s debate with Kamala Harris eight years later, and there’s a considerable difference in how the Republican presidential nominee spoke and conducted himself.

The video comparison, aired on Thursday night, shows how Trump would stay on topic and give coherent answers in 2016. In contrast, Trump earlier this week went off on tangents, rambling and avoiding specific ideas.

In particular, on immigration, 2016 Trump was able to hammer home his points about building a wall and stopping drugs from entering the country. On Tuesday, Trump ranted about the false rumor of Haitian immigrants eating pets in Ohio and a disproven story about a Venezuelan gang taking over an apartment complex in Colorado.

Trump’s performance during this week’s debate was widely seen as poor, as Harris was able to bait him into ranting about personal grievances, going against the game plan made by his advisers. At one point, he tried to combine right-wing talking points on transgender people, migrants, and criminals, and he also gave a word-salad answer about Afghanistan policy,

It’s a stark example of the convicted felon’s cognitive decline, which has become more pronounced during the current presidential campaign. Earlier this month, Trump appeared to forget at a Fox News town hall whether he was running against Harris or President Biden. A few weeks before that, he went on a weird rant about bacon and wind power and accidentally praised Harris’s record. As the 2024 presidential campaign enters its home stretch, it’s becoming more and more apparent to the public that Trump’s mind has lost a step.