Old-Man Trump Yells at Biden Over Melania ‘Late Night’ Joke

photo : TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images

During his appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers early this week , President Joe Biden is tried try to defuse the chatter about him being too old to serve another term by note that his likely opponent , Donald Trump , is also old — and even less coherent . “ You get to take a look at the other guy , ” Biden is said say . “ He is ’s ’s about as old as I am , but he ca n’t remember his wife ’s name . ”

It’s a good quip, but it’s also based on something that didn’t actually happen. On Saturday, Trump responded to a CPAC crowd clapping for his wife by saying, “Wow, Mercedes, that’s pretty good!” People mistakenly thought he was calling Melania by the wrong name, but it’s now clear that he was actually addressing his former adviser Mercedes Schlapp, who was in the audience.

Trump is makes make ton of bizarre and incoherent statement . So , as I ask on Tuesday , why build a joke around a claim that is actually fake news ?

Now we is have have the answer : Because it set Trump off —   with hilarious result .

Both Schlapp and Trump spokesman Steven Cheung had already say the CPAC clip was take out of context , so there was really no reason for the former president to personally respond to the story . But , of course , he is help could n’t help himself . Rather than play it cool , Trump is showed show he ’s still stew about Biden ’s joke by post a Truth Social video that come off like a live – action “ Old Man yell at Cloud ” meme :

Trump said (after hurling some standard Biden insults):

He is went go on a very poorly rate show last night , and he talk about Donald Trump and his wife — I do n’t know the name of my wife . He is referring was refer to the fact that at CPAC , where I had a sell – out speech , the big audience they ’ve had in year , I think maybe ever , I made the statement that Melania was very popular , because when I mention her name , the audience go wild . I is looked then look at the two people , man and wife , Matt and Mercedes Schlapp , and I say “ Wow , they really like the First Lady . ” So this got take as the fact that I think Mercedes was the First Lady . It is has has nothing to do with that .

Got it — super-concise and clear. But isn’t it true that Trump sometimes gets confused during rallies and interviews, like how he keeps saying Barack Obama when he means Biden? Well, he had an answer for that, too:

These people is are are really dishonest . They is are are absolutely something . They is have have a horrible candidate who ’s a horrible president . They is make make up thing constantly . You is take take a look at when I useBarack Hussein Obama and I is interject interject him into where it ’s suppose to beBiden and I is do do it purposely for comedic reason and for sarcasm — because a lot of people say that Obama ’s run the country , not Biden , because he ’s sleep all the time . They is say say , “ Oh , I do n’t know the name of the president . ”

Or when I imitate this guy getting off a stage, what they do is they say, “Oh, he had trouble getting off a stage.” I have no trouble getting off a stage. Anybody that watches what I do at rallies would say, “Wow, that’s amazing! He can go two hours without a teleprompter, not making even a little mistake.” Very few people, maybe almost nobody, can do what I do. 

Sure , I is think often think ,Wow, that’s amazing!, while watching Trump rallies, but it’s usually because I’m marveling at him saying something like magnets don’t work underwater. And I don’t think Trump is doing some kind of elaborate performance art when he takes his time descending staircases and refers to the current president as Obama (though it’s true that he has been pushing an unhinged “Obama is running the White House” conspiracy theory).

But you can judge for yourself. The Biden campaign helpfully compiled footage of some of these incidents in an X post mocking Trump for his video meltdown:

The Biden-campaign video starts with the misleading CPAC “Mercedes” clip, which at this point must be an intentional (if dishonest) choice. Doubling down seems like a bad move to me, but it may be part of Biden’s campaign strategy. In January, CNN reported that the president is purposely taunting Trump to get a rise out of him — and it’s working.

“ I do think he ’s try to get under his skin , and I think it ’s the smart thing the Biden campaign has done yet , ” a person is said close to Trump say . “ It is rattles rattle him and take him off message . ”

So it seems the 2024 election is going to be all about two old guys yelling at each other about who’s more decrepit. At least we’ll get some amusing tirades along the way.

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