chapotraphouse

I like a dance party as much as the next gal, but Donald Trump’s weird rally-turned-D.J.-session on Monday night has me more than a little concerned.

I am far from the only one. The former president, who is increasingly steering clear of public events that aren’t guaranteed safe spaces (he canceled yet another TV interview on Tuesday), had arranged for a nice, friendly town hall: Field a few softball questions from fans. Wave, smile, throw out some random asides. Do that weird old-guy hip shake. (I swear I’ve seen my dad do the exact same moves.)

But after three or four questions, things went off the rails. Two attendees dropped from the heat. No one seemed to know what to do. And suddenly Trump announced that the rest of the event would be devoted to enjoying his campaign’s playlist. He stood onstage swaying and smirking, occasionally moving his arms, for just shy of 40 minutes.

It was, gently put, troubling — an extended senior moment from a man who would be, if elected, America’s oldest president. Even Kristi Noem looked unsettled, and she killed her puppy when it acted up.

Voters deserve to know if Trump is slipping cognitively. In addition to backing out of appearances and running a lower-energy campaign than in previous cycles, Trump’s stream-of-consciousness weave is fast degenerating into something at times incomprehensible. (Except for the racist bits. Those still come across.)

I am not a cognitive specialist. I am not here to diagnose the former president. But I can certainly speak to the concerns of regular Americans — how it looks to those of us who have gone through time and heartbreak with loved ones experiencing cognitive troubles, whether temporary or progressive. Among the various possibilities weighing on some of our minds:

• At 78, like so many others his age, Trump may have entered a period of permanent cognitive decline. Without a proper medical work-up, it’s impossible to say. But the specter of an irreversible slide is what is seriously freaking out some voters — and should be freaking out Trump’s own team. This is what many Americans were pretty sure was happening with President Biden, even if it manifested differently. It is no more comforting to consider the possibility with Trump, and it shouldn’t be downplayed simply because Trump’s possible senior moments are less spacey and more ragey.

• Trump may be suffering a temporary decline because of the stress and grueling schedule of a presidential campaign, possibly combined with two assassination attempts and his ongoing legal dramas. He is auditioning for arguably the most stressful job in the world — one that, as we so often noted with Biden, takes a visible toll even on presidents decades younger.

• There has also been a bit of speculation that this is part of some clever scheme to help him avoid tough questions or awkward encounters — or at least keep people focused on something other than his bone-deep dishonesty and scary antidemocratic tendencies. But there have been too many times he has lost the thread of his thoughts altogether for this to be four-dimensional chess.

Unfortunately, we have too much experience watching politicians fall prey to the vagaries of aging. We may never understand what exactly is going on with Trump, because his people are so intent on shielding him — in much the same way that Republicans accused Biden’s people of shielding him. But we know the red flags. Time and chance happen to everyone, regardless of his or her political leanings. To pretend otherwise is to court disaster.