Former President Donald Trump issued a fiery response on Sunday night amid claims he “froze” for about 30 seconds while speaking on stage at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Texas.
Trump addressed the NRA in Dallas on Saturday as he accepted the organization’s endorsement, NBC News reported.
When a segment of the speech went viral on the social media platform X, the presumptive Republican nominee hit back, calling it a “MADE UP Biden Campaign story.”
During his remarks, Trump briefly paused while music was played, a common occurrence when he speaks to large crowds.
The official account of President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign shared a clip of the moment and said, “Trump starts playing QAnon music during his bizarre slur-filled NRA speech.”
Trending:
That video was shared by “Biden’s Wins,” an X account described as the “largest online community of President Biden’s supporters.”
“Donald Trump just glitched out and froze at his rally tonight,” the account said. “He is clearly unfit for office. Retweet so every American knows Trump is senile.”
BREAKING: Donald Trump just glitched out and froze at his rally tonight. He is clearly unfit for office. Retweet so every American knows Trump is senile. pic.twitter.com/QTa5qKNy8H
— Biden’s Wins (@BidensWins) May 19, 2024
Many other pro-Biden accounts on X also seized on the clip to claim the former president was either unwell or unfit to run the country.
35 seconds! That’s how long Trump froze when his teleprompter stopped scrolling at yesterday’s NRA convention. He can’t think or speak without a teleprompter. All he could do was shake his head in frustration & grimace in embarrassment until it restarted.pic.twitter.com/fmIZpXxKG3
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) May 19, 2024
WTF??? Trump just FROZE for a solid 30 seconds. This guy is clearly unfit to serve. He has mentally declined rapidly, and it’s very clear. He needs to drop out of the race ASAP! pic.twitter.com/q8JQOADyis
— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) May 18, 2024
Trump issued a response Sunday on his Truth Social account.
“My Speech in Dallas this weekend at the NRA’s ‘Endorsement of President Donald J. Trump,’ was attended by a Record Crowd of very enthusiastic Patriots,” he wrote. “The Biden Campaign, however, put out a Fake Story that I ‘froze’ for 30 seconds, going into the ‘Musical Interlude’ section, when in actuality, the 30 to 60 second period of silence is standard in every one of my Speeches where we use the Music.
“Check out any of my Speeches! The reason they came up with this Disinformation is that Biden freezes all the time, can’t put two sentences together, and can rarely find his way off the stage without help.
“Donald Trump doesn’t freeze! It is a MADE UP Biden Campaign story, put out in a dying Newspaper that I never heard of, and every Reporter knows it, including the large group that was there.”
In another post, Trump hit Biden, who has been dogged for years by speculation he is suffering from a cognitive and physical decline.
“As far as the podium, I actually stopped it from falling due to good reflexes and strength, two elements which Joe Biden does not possess,” the former president wrote. “Check out the clip! Crooked Joe is a completely incompetent and corrupt person, even when it comes to putting out a fake story like this.”
While anti-Trump accounts spread the clip from the NRA speech, a video of numerous moments of Biden freezing up while speaking — originally posted in February — went viral again.
Here are five straight minutes that show exactly why the special counsel noted Biden’s diminished mental fitness pic.twitter.com/u1ToosAKyz
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 11, 2024
Trump’s appearance in Texas was one of the few times he had been able to travel for a campaign event in recent weeks.
Have you ever attended a Trump speech?
The former president is a criminal defendant in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “hush money” trial in New York.
Trump has consistently criticized Bragg’s unprecedented prosecution of him as election interference.
