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Trump, 78, Accidentally Skewers Himself in Wild Rant on 80-Year-Olds

Either Donald Trump has forgotten how old he is—or he hopes his fan base is too dumb to remember.

Donald Trump speaks animatedly and points to something or someone off screen
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

In a recent gaffe-filled, nonsensical speech, 78-year-old Donald Trump seemed to imply that 80-year-olds are incapable of signing important documents.

Speaking in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Saturday, Trump suddenly poked fun at the elderly, during a rant about Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis.

“Great patriots have been indicted by Fani and her boyfriend, and it’s a disgrace. You had people that are in their eighties, ‘Uh would you sign here?’” said Trump, with no real explanation of how the two thoughts connected.

It’s unclear which 80-year-olds he is ridiculing: whether that be his great “innocent” patriots or some cabal of elderly people in cahoots with Willis. What is clear, however, is that Trump’s offhand comment only throws himself under the bus. In case Trump has forgotten, he will turn 80 in 2026. And he is running to serve a four-year term as president, during which he would presumably be signing documents” quite often.

Immediately following the comment about old people, Trump rattled off American historical figures who he said “did the same kind of things” as himself, such as Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Notably, Hamilton wouldn’t have tried to steal an election because he never ran for president.

Elsewhere in the speech, Trump called his friend Elon Musk “Leon” and warned his crowd that if “Comrade Kamala Harris gets four more years, you will be living a full-blown banana republic ruled by an anarchy and a tyranny.”

Now that Joe Biden is out of the race, Trump’s rapidly increasing cognitive decline is more and more on display. With each speech he gives us a new unintelligible moment, or several.

Ted Cruz Gets Brutal Reminder After Sharing Racist Migrants Conspiracy

Senator Ted Cruz really thought he did something with this one.

Senator Ted Cruz purses his lips
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Senator Ted Cruz has joined the “Haitian immigrants are eating house cats” conspiracy theory, sharing a meme on X on Monday that he presumably thinks is funny.

Twitter screenshot Ted Cruz @tedcruz: 🤣🤣🤣 Meme of two cats hugging each other that look scared. Caption reads: Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don't eat us.

But as the internet was quick to remind him, Cruz probably shouldn’t be getting involved in spreading any conspiracy theories involving pets. When he made his infamous trip to Cancún during Texas’s devastating 2021 snowstorm, he left behind his family’s pet dog, ironically named Snowflake, to be looked after by a security guard. The storm left millions of Texans without electricity, and Cruz’s house (without its normal occupants) was among them.

Several users on X were quick to remind Cruz about that embarrassing incident.

Twitter screenshot 𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕖_𝔾𝕦𝕣𝕝 @SundaeDivine: You left Snowflake home alone when you went to Cancun. (with a photo of a small fluffy white dog)
Twitter screenshot PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 @patriottakes: Ted Cruz left his dog Snowflake at home during the ice storm while he traveled to Cancun
Twitter screenshot C D M A @jcdma8832: Is this your pet?(Snowflake) who did you leave at home in the freezing temperatures in 2021? (photo of a dog seen from the front door of a house)

And others pointed out the bigotry behind the false rumor.

Twitter screenshot Cathy Young 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 @CathyYoung63: Nothing to see here, just a US Senator trafficking in blatant bigotry and lies by the way:
Twitter screenshot Tim Miller @Timodc: The unapologetic racism is really astonishing even for the Trump era gop. Quote tweet of Cruz

Ironically, Cruz is the son of an immigrant who successfully sought political asylum in the United States, making his post hypocritical in addition to xenophobic.

Twittter screenshot Zaid Jilani @ZaidJilani: It says something about Ted Cruz’s character (or lack thereof) that a son of immigrants himself would sink so low as to post fake stories about immigrants implying they are going to kidnap and eat your pets.

Cruz should probably be more worried about his upcoming election, as his lead over his Democratic challenger, Representative Colin Allred, is shrinking. He could also focus more on his Senate duties, instead of engaging in shouting matches or pushing a self-serving airport security bill that is another reminder of his Cancún trip. But it seems that he’s more interested in making racist jokes, engaging in political theater, and fawning over the man who famously insulted his wife and father, Donald Trump.

How a Secret Right-Wing Network Spread Sexual Smears About Harris

A new report reveals that a secretive influencer network is spreading some of the worst attacks on Kamala Harris.

Kamala Harris speaks at a lectern
AUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

A secret network of influencers were paid big bucks to spread sexual rumors about Kamala Harris, according to a new Semafor investigation.

The investigation delves into a weird political network of posters, led by an unknown individual, who made it their mission to smear Kamala Harris about her sex life. One person made as much as $20,000 for being a part of the scheme.

While the group first organized around generic Republican talking points to support Donald Trump, after an emergency “War Room—Kamala Messaging” meeting following President Joe Biden’s choice to step aside, the network shifted gears to talk about Harris’s sexual activities. They compared Harris to Haliey Welch, the “Hawk Tuah girl” who went viral after discussing oral sex.

In August, Trump elevated similar attacks on Harris, reposting a meme on Truth Social featuring photos of Harris and Hillary Clinton alongside the comment: “Funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently …” Other conservative posters also emphasized Harris’s previous relationships with California politician Willie Brown and television host Montel Williams.

Meanwhile, the right-wing influencer group moved in secret. In Zoom meetings, they kept their cameras off and operated under aliases. But Semafor was able to ID one participant: former New York Representative George Santos. After the plan to sexually smear Harris materialized, the disgraced former congressman said he rejected the messaging and left the call, according to a participant who spoke to Semafor.

On July 24, less than 48 hours after the influencer call, Santos posted on X, criticizing “conservative influencers talking about Kamala’s sex life and race” rather than legitimate issues. “Please God make it stop.… I don’t pay my bills or fill up my car with this nonsense!”

Trump Ally’s Embarrassing Speech Is a Sign of Campaign’s Dismal State

Kimberly Guilfoyle was met with almost no audience response during a speech.

Kimberly Guilfoyle stands on stage at the Republican National Convention
Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu/Getty Images

Kimberly Guilfoyle just had her Jeb Bush moment.

The waning conservative star lost her spark while speaking at a Republican fundraiser in Florida on Saturday, where even like-minded conservatives couldn’t find it in themselves to clap for the 2020 Trump campaign adviser.

“I’m here to tell you, don’t lose hope. On a personal note, I can tell you that I am as hopeful as ever,” Guilfoyle said at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. “Because Americans from all walks of life have had enough of the Democrats’ decline. And we are ready, we are willing, and we are able to spark a new era of American exceptionalism.”

But that tagline didn’t elicit any reaction from the muted crowd.

“You can clap for that,” Guilfoyle added, tossing her head to the side.

About 700 Republicans were in attendance, reported The Palm Beach Post.

Even direct attacks against Democratic leadership, including Vice President Kamala Harris, fell flat with the right-wing loyalists during Guilfoyle’s roughly 15-minute speech.

“I have known her for 25 years. And let me tell you something: Do whatever it takes to keep her out of the White House,” Guilfoyle said to relative silence.

The lackluster reception to Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancée could be credited to Guilfoyle’s low-tier spot in the evening’s speaker lineup, which otherwise included MAGA heavy hitters such as Senator Rick Scott, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, and Florida Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart and Byron Donalds. Still, the crowd managed to perk right up when Guilfoyle walked off the stage, giving a standing ovation to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as he emerged from behind the curtain to celebrate the “free state of Florida.”

MAGA Launches Most Unbelievable Conspiracy Yet—on Migrants Eating Pets

Republicans are straight up losing their minds with their racist conspiracy theories.

J.D. Vance speaks angrily at a lectern and points
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The MAGA right, including Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance, are spreading a racist rumor that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are capturing, cooking, and eating people’s pet cats and ducks.

Right-wingers seemed to have conflated a report from Canton, Ohio, of a woman who was arrested for allegedly killing and eating a cat, with complaints from residents in Springfield, more than 170 miles away from Canton. The woman is a U.S. citizen, and there is no indication she is a Haitian immigrant.

Meanwhile, police in Springfield say they have received no reports of pets being stolen and eaten, according to the Springfield News-Sun. The newspaper says that the rumor began from a local Facebook group, where a poster claimed that her neighbor’s daughter’s friend lost her pet cat and found it hanging from a tree branch at a Haitian neighbor’s home to be carved and eaten.

The post cited, with no evidence, that “rangers” and police said that “they have been doing it” at a local park with ducks and geese, according to the newspaper. But these reports do not appear to have reached the right, who are not only spreading the rumor, but using it to promote anti-immigrant policies and make racist attacks.

The House Judiciary Committee’s Republican members, former Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller, Representative Mike Collins, Elon Musk, commentator Charlie Kirk, conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec, influencer Ian Miles Cheong, and many others have all picked up and spread the rumor, in some cases with bizarre A.I.-generated images of Donald Trump holding cats and ducks.

Twitter screenshot Elon Musk @elonmusk: 🥰 Quote tweet of House Judiciary GOP tweet that says "Protect our ducks and kittens in Ohio!" with an AI photo of Donald Trump hugging a duck and a cat while wading in in the water.
Twitter screenshot: Stephen Miller @StephenM We’ve reached the point in Kamala’s migrant invasion where the migrants are stealing and eating Americans’ pets. Quote tweet of The Calvin Coolidge Project @TheCalvinCooli1: 🚨Report: Springfield Ohio residents are warning their pets and wildlife like ducks and geese are being eaten by Haitians One neighbor said she saw her cat being carved up by the Haitians. Another neighbor said a police officer told her this is happening to dogs, ducks and geese
Twitter screenshot Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski: He just had a constituent shoot up a school in his district. But this is what he’s focused on today. This post perfectly sums up the MAGA movement and the current Republican Party. Screenshot of Rep. Mike Collins @RepMikeCollins: They're in the park. Grabbing up ducks. By the neck. And eatin 'em.
Twitter screenshot Charlie Kirk @charliekirk11: Residents of Springfield, OH are reporting that Haitians are eating their family pets, another gift of the Biden-Harris mass immigration replacement plan. Liberals will soon be lecturing Americans on why they need to be sensitive to Haitian culture and accept this as the new normal. Those idiots deserve to be condemned and mocked mercilessly. Save our pets. Secure our borders. With screenshot to a news article (no outlet name given) that reads: Biden floods Ohio town with 20,000 Haitian migrants: ten to a bedroom. And a screenshot of a Facebook post in a Springfield Ohio group.
Twitter screenshot Ian Miles Cheong @stillgray: Springfield has one hope. (AI generated image of Donald Trump running in a field, with one kitten in each hand. Behind him run two young Black men with their shirts off.)

Vance reshared a video from a Senate hearing earlier this year where he claimed “Haitian illegal immigrants” were draining public resources in Springfield, repeating the baseless story that pets were being eaten. Other right-wing influencers have also shared reports of Springfield residents complaining about Haitian immigrants killing and eating ducks.

In reality, while Haitian immigrants have settled in the town since the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, local officials have been debunking rumors and misinformation about them for a long time, saying that any increases in crime are in line with national trends. Like in other elections, the GOP is using immigration fearmongering in the hopes that it will scare up votes and give credibility to Trump’s planned mass deportations.