Donald Trump appeared to confuse an Afghan air base with a wildlife refuge during a town hall event in Flint, Michigan. Speaking to Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders about energy production in the United States, the former President said, “We just have the best. We have Bagram in Alaska.” Mr. Trump was likely referring to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), where he approved the sale of oil leases in 2021.
Covering 19 million acres, the ANWR is home to numerous species, including polar bears and Porcupine caribou, which travel to the region for calving every spring. The Trump White House approved drilling there for the first time against stiff opposition from environmental and indigenous groups. Drilling proponents, however, said it would boost the Alaskan economy and bring much-needed jobs to the state.
In Flint, Mr. Trump boasted that he was the only President able to secure drilling rights in the region, but the Biden administration quickly reversed gear and “terminated it.”
The former President’s verbal mistake prompted mockery online, with some suggesting that the Republican is increasingly confused. Former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath, for instance, tweeted, “He is clueless, folks.”
Since President Biden dropped out of the presidential race, Mr. Trump has faced increasing scrutiny of his cognitive abilities, including from Vice President Kamala Harris, who said he struggled to process facts. During the Recent Presidential debate in Philadelphia, the Vice President said Trump could not accept that he lost the 2020 election, and this should be a red flag for voters. She said Trump lacks the ability or temperament to lead because he is “confused about facts.”
Timothy O’Brien, author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald, spoke out after the debate and said that Donald Trump knows his mental health is declining. He believes that Trump’s insistence that he does not ramble during rallies but is “weaving” topics together in a “genius” fashion is, in fact, a tacit admission that he knows he is not as strong as he once was. “What we’re seeing now is a reflection of someone who’s very troubled and very desperate,” O’Brien said.
