Former President Donald Trump once again conflated President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama during a Virginia rally Saturday evening.
“Putin has so little respect for Obama that he’s starting to throw around the nuclear word. You heard that. Nuclear. He’s starting to talk nuclear weapons today,” Trump chided during his rally.
Rallygoers quickly went silent as the 77-year-old mentioned his predecessor.
Trump’s remark was a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin ominously suggesting in his state of the nation speech last week that an escalation in war-torn Ukraine “raises the real threat of a nuclear conflict.”
Trump has repeatedly mixed Biden and Obama up on the campaign stump but insists it’s intentional. Last year, he conflated the two-term ticket mates on at least seven occasions, according to Forbes.
“Whenever I sarcastically insert the name Obama for Biden as an indication that others may actually be having a very big influence in running our Country,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post last year.
Allies of Biden have seized on instances in which Trump mixes up the two, seeking to imply the 45th president is suffering from some sort of cognitive deficiency as the incumbent fends off age-related concerns of his own.
“Trump once again forgets who is currently president, says he is running against ‘Obama,’” a Biden-Harris campaign account on X wrote.
Later in his wide-ranging speech, Trump offered an explanation for why he has mixed up his last-standing major Republican foe Nikki Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)
“I purposely mix up a name, like Birdbrain, you know who Birdbrain is, right, Nikki, with Nancy Pelosi,” he said.
“I put them in because they’re interchangeable in my mind. Except I have to say, I shouldn’t say this about a semi-Republican, but I think Pelosi’s probably a little bit smarter, actually.”
Trump has also recently confused Obama with Hillary Clinton, claiming last year that he defeated the former in the 2016 election.
Trump has crowed repeatedly about how he “aced” the Montreal Cognitive Assessment which he took during his White House days.
Both Biden and Trump who appear to be careening toward a rematch of their 2020 showdown have been haunted by questions about their age.
A staggering 86% of US adults felt that the 81-year-old Biden is too old for another term in an ABC News/Ipsos poll released last month concluded. A smaller 62% felt that Trump is too old as well.
Biden is the oldest sitting US president and would be 86 by the end of a second hypothetical term. Should Trump win in November and serve out a full term, he will surpass Biden by several months as the oldest president.
Virginia is one of over a dozen states holding its Republican presidential nominating contest this Super Tuesday, with 48 delegates up for grabs.
Trump, who has thumped opponents in every GOP contest he’s vied in, is the overwhelming favorite and has already begun shifting into general election mode.
