A Republican strategist warned that President Donald Trump’s accelerating “cognitive decline” could prevent him from completing his second term.
In an interview with Times Radio, Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson claimed Trump is no longer the same political force seen during his previous campaigns, saying his speech, memory, and coherence have visibly deteriorated.
“He is incoherent,” Wilson said. “His inability to articulate any thought or position without constant asides, constant lapses… this is not the Trump of 2015, nor is he the Trump of 2020. He’s not even the Trump of 2024.”
Wilson pointed to verbal lapses and behavioral patterns that, he says, mirror early signs of dementia. While acknowledging he’s not a medical professional, he alleged many neurological experts see troubling similarities.
Despite these concerns, the White House physician, Captain Sean Barbabella, issued a clean bill of health in April, stating Trump “exhibits excellent cognitive and physical health.”
Wilson, however, argued that Trump’s age and long-standing health habits cast doubts over his ability to withstand the grueling demands of the presidency through 2029.
“He’s a guy who’s subsisted off of McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken and well done steaks for a very long time,” he said. “He is not a healthy guy.”
“Whether he makes it through four years is an open question,” Wilson said. “Given the pace of the decline that we’ve seen…I think he’ll be pretty much checked out by the middle of this second term.”
The president has consistently dismissed concerns about his health, frequently boasting about passing cognitive tests.
“I don’t know that he’s going to ever be told by anyone, ‘Sir you’re not healthy, you can’t do this anymore,'” Wilson said, predicting internal strife on the horizon. “But I think by the end of this, you’re going to be in a civil war with the MAGAs to choose a successor.”
The speculation follows not only scrutiny of Trump’s cognitive aptitude, but bombshell reports of former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline toward the end of his term, and of efforts taken to conceal his diminishing mental acuity from the public.
Originally published on Latin Times
