Donald Trump's Verbal Gaffes Under Spotlight At Hearing Meant For Biden

A Senate hearing to scrutinise former US President Joe Biden's mental acuity, took a 180-degree turn with Illinois Senator Dick Durbin putting Donald Trump in the spotlight.

Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, played a video montage of Trump's verbal gaffes, calling attention to the US President's own cognitive abilities.

"I'd like you to see a short video that includes some other examples of cognitive ability," Durbin said, as he introduced the clip.

The footage included bizarre one-liners such as:

• "They're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating."
• "This is a tough hurricane, one of the wettest we've ever seen from the standpoint of water."
• "The windmills are driving the whales crazy, obviously."
• "I have concepts of a plan."
• "The kidney has a very special place in the heart."
• "And then I see the disinfectant that knocks [COVID-19] out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside, or almost a cleaning?"

Durbin also referred to a recent Trump gaffe at the G7 summit in Canada where the President fumbled trade documents and wrongly claimed the UK was part of the European Union.

Before playing the video, the Senator criticised his Republican colleagues for convening the hearing, which aimed to investigate Biden's mental sharpness and alleged efforts to cover up any decline.

"This is our first Judiciary Committee oversight hearing of the 118th Congress," Durbin said. "And not one single oversight hearing has been held despite numerous critical challenges facing the nation that are under our jurisdiction."

He went on to list those challenges, including the shooting of two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, the removal of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) by federal agents, and the deployment of Marines and the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles under Trump's administration.

"But instead of exercising this constitutional oversight duty," he continued, "my Republican colleagues are holding this hearing. Apparently, armchair diagnosing former President Biden is more important than the issues of grave concern, which I have mentioned."

Last year, mounting concerns over Joe Biden's mental acuity, fuelled by a string of public gaffes, ultimately forced him to withdraw from the 2024 race and endorse former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Repeated slip-ups, like calling Ukraine's Volodydmyr Zelensky "President Putin," mixing up Trump and Harris, and freezing during the presidential debate, intensified bipartisan concerns about his cognitive health. A particularly poor showing at the G7 summit and NATO events only added to the growing unease.

Democratic leaders, alarmed by internal polling and public backlash, began pressuring Biden behind the scenes. After weeks of speculation and rising calls to step aside, Biden announced on July 21, 2024, that he would not seek re-election.