Dancing Donald Trump is clearly in steep decline | Opinion

For about 38 minutes, former President Donald Trump was in a fortunate situation. After some people broke down at his town hall, Trump became frustrated, decided he'd had enough softball questions from Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) and asked to play music. For nearly 40 minutes, Trump repeatedly asked for more music, swayed strangely in front of the crowd, occasionally closed his eyes and retreated to a comforting place in his mind, as if wrapped in a warm blanket.

For those of us whose family members were suffering from dementia, it was a familiar sight. Both of my grandmothers suffered from this towards the end of their lives. Even before they were sent to nursing homes, they showed increasing frustration and even anger. My maternal grandmother accused her caretaker of intentionally turning the shower knob too tight so she would have to come in and see my grandmother naked. But she also liked to sing old songs that she remembered. She had her happy place – an oasis in a time of increasing confusion. Then there were other times when she was completely lucid. She would speak with complete clarity about the situation in the Middle East (which was also still an issue at the time). There were good days and there were bad days.

It's not that we haven't seen Trump's behavior with our own eyes. It's not like the media hasn't noticed either. And yet no one seems to want to talk about the distinct possibility that Trump is well on his way to the same state my grandmothers were in, and in which millions of Americans find friends and family – severe cognitive decline, if not complete dementia.

Politico noted that Trump's language is becoming darker and angrier than before. Doctors have noticed that his speech patterns are also deteriorating. His campaign strangely and very abruptly canceled interviews with 60 Minutes and CNBC. He confuses the gender of the people he is talking about. He keeps saying he's running against President Biden. He mixed up his doctor's name when discussing his cognitive test.

Clips of him from 2016 and now show a very severe decline and inability to maintain a train of thought.

Angry, frustrated, confused, unable to concentrate. And now he retreats to his happy place during stressful times. Put it all together and ask yourself if you would trust someone to care for your children in a house with a working stove.

And yes, there are moments when he sounds like the Donald Trump of yesteryear. There are flashes of this from time to time. Like my grandmothers, he has good days and bad days.

But for the media and voters to continue to claim that Trump is just an odd duck who does unconventional things is even more irresponsible than family members trying to explain away their loved ones' apparent decline to avoid the painful truth.

It's more irresponsible because it's about putting this man in the most powerful place in the world. A seat where he can extinguish lives with the stroke of a pen or the push of a button (something he's always dreamed of). A seat where he can use the military to hunt down people he becomes paranoid about. A place where he may have to make split-second decisions while your life and that of your family is at stake.

Although in normal times there may be guardrails that protect us from someone in mental decline holding that office, Project 2025 eliminates almost all of them. Trump himself has said that he will not repeat the “mistake” of having people around him who stop him.

Whatever Trump wants to do, be it on a spiritually good day or a bad day, it will be done. Let that sink in. Anything he says he wants to be done.

MAGA's short answer will be, “Where was that fight with Joe Biden?”

But the media was constantly preoccupied with Biden's mental state before he resigned. It was a problem. Voters also thought about it and were aware of it.

Trump deserves the same scrutiny. And when he understands it, the picture becomes clear.

Donald Trump's mental state is not doing well. It fails. It won't get better.

It's time to be honest.

Eric Schmeltzer is a Los Angeles-based political consultant who served as press secretary to Rep. Jerry Nadler and the former governor. Howard Dean.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own.