Former President Donald Trump delivered a tempestuous campaign speech in Georgia on Sunday that was meant to be his final pitch to undecided voters in the state, but instead devolved into one of his most disjointed rants since becoming the GOP nominee, leading to a wave of ridicule on social media.
During the speech in Macon, some audience members appeared to doze off as Trump recounted violent deaths at the hands of immigrants and vented frustration over what he called 800,000 falsified “cobs” reports, when he meant to say jobs, while his voice often trailed off in a droning monotone that left the crowd unenthused.
“Dementia Don is going through some things,” one X user commented, echoing a flood of criticisms surrounding Trump’s mental fitness to lead the nation. Another added, “800,000 cobs? Corn on the cobs? What’s he talking about?”
At one point, Trump mentioned that he wanted to put former pro-running back Herschel Walker in charge of the country’s missile defense if he became president again, even though Walker has no prior experience with military strategy or defense systems.
“We will build a missile defense shield, all made in the USA, wrapped around our country to defend ourselves and our country,” Trump declared to his cheering supporters. Trump then added, “We’ll put Herschel Walker in charge of that little sucker,” to little applause.
TRUMP: We will build a missile defense shield.. We’ll put Herschel Walker in charge of that little sucker
CUT TO:
The man Donald Trump wants to put in charge of America’s missile defense shield. https://t.co/yOVm0crpWU pic.twitter.com/KvTv4bHyzu
— Eric Champnella (@champnella) November 4, 2024
When Walker took the stage, he didn’t do himself any favors to prove he was ready for the task, sounding flustered at times and struggling to pronounce Trump’s name correctly.
“Let us not let Donald Trump down, because he’s not gonna let us down. Because when you see what they’re doing to this country. You say, it’s a darn shame. And it is time for it to stop. And it stops on Tuesday when we get to the polls, and we vote for my friend and your friend, Donald Trump Jr.!” Walker declared before realizing his mistake and stammering to correct himself.
However, he mispronounced Trump’s name repeatedly. “Donald Trump, er, Jonald J. Trump!”
Herschel Walker is the actual idiot that republicans think Kamala is https://t.co/WYARGehpYO
— Foster (@fosterd07) November 4, 2024
Social media had a field day mocking Walker for becoming a caricature or Uncle Tom-like figure in Trump’s campaign, while his appearance only reinforced doubts about his readiness for a major role in Trump’s next administration.
‘I’m insulted for you. Herschel Walker embodies every negative stereotype Black Americans have fought against for decades: violence, criminality, intellectual inferiority & sexual promiscuity,” one person wrote on X. “Republicans admit he’s a token so they can claim they aren’t racists.”
Another added, “Herschel Walker is the actual idiot that republicans think Kamala is”
Also making the rounds on social platforms was a resurfaced video from The 85 South Show podcast, featuring Karlous Miller, DC Young Fly, and Chico Bean, who poked fun at Herschel Walker’s 2022 GOP Senate campaign after he suggested creating “a department that can look at young men that’s looking at women that’s looking at social media” as a response to the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
“Herschel Walker played football when the helmets were soft,” one of the panelists quipped at the time, prompting uproarious laughter from the studio audience.
🗣 THE HELMET WAS SOFT!!!!!! https://t.co/CONTf1p45v pic.twitter.com/CPwbm555pQ
— DIAMOND LIFE (@Melanated_AF) May 26, 2022
Throughout the day on X, videos from Trump’s stump speech elicited similar reactions, with influencers making the case that undecided voters were growing weary of Trump’s familiar grievances and controversial talking points.
“This dude in the gold hat looks like he’s fighting the will to nod off,” Justin Baragona wrote on X, sharing three photos showing a man leaning back with a sleepy gaze fixed on Trump.
Other social media influencers looked for signs of boredom in the audience as Trump talked around in circles.
“The young women behind Trump are struggling,” observed Aaron Rupar, an independent journalist who covers the Trump campaign with a liberal viewpoint. He shared a video showing one young woman stifling a yawn, while another next to her appeared absorbed in her phone.
Rupar noted that the women seemed unfazed by Trump’s fearmongering about violent acts he attributed to immigrant gang members in Long Island, New York.
“Trump’s ‘beautiful 16-year-old girls getting sliced up by knives’ bit doesn’t seem to be a huge hit,” Rupar wrote, while also pointing out Trump’s word salad, which included “Agricultule” for agricultural, and the “cobs” for jobs quote, where Trump attempted to criticize the Biden administration on job creation but struggled to make his point clear to supporters.
“A whistleblower released the information on the 18 on the 800,000 cobs, plus the whistleblower said you know there were not 800,000 and 18,000 you add them up that’s and then you add 100 and think of it 112,000 jobs,” Trump said.
Dementia Don is going through some things.
— Lucas Sanders 💙🗳️🌊💪🌈🚺🟧 (@LucasSa56947288) November 4, 2024
“Just watch the crowd,” commented Fred Wellman as he shared a video capturing a young woman jolting awake at the moment Trump made the gaffe.
In response to the blunder, Michigan GOP Watch, a political pundit, quipped, “His brain is tapioca pudding.”
Rupar also pointed out that Trump started an anecdote about former first lady Michelle Obama but failed to finish the point.
“Trump starts in on Michelle Obama but he gets distracted and never finishes the thought,” Rupar wrote. “I’ve always treated his beautiful wife Michelle, I’ve always her with great respect, but she he me hard over the last—” Trump began. “What was that, Front Row Joes?” he asked before pivoting to his crowd size.
The speech reflected a pattern of incoherence for Trump, marked by a troubling tendency to ramble and contradict himself, further fueling concerns about his grasp on key issues and the impact of his age after Trump turned 78 in June.
In another speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Friday, Trump told rally-goers that he has a “very fertile brain” while defending himself against critics who continue to assail the former president as “cognitively impaired.”
“I have a very fertile, a very fertile, brain, but it’s the weave and we do it, this way you tell one story and you cover like 15 sub plots but you get down to the final answer,” Trump said, according to Newsweek. “They used to say, he rambled, I don’t ramble. I do a weave, you know what a weave is? It’s a story.”
