MSNBC host Joe Scarborough burst into laughter during Monday’s edition of “Morning Joe” after airing a video of former President Donald Trump fumbling the name of J.D. Vance, the Republican candidate he endorsed in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race, during a rally on Sunday.
a gaffe one of Vance’s primary opponents quickly seized upon.
Trump was speaking at Greenwood, Nebraska, in support of Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster. When he mentioned the candidates he’s endorsed, Trump confused J.D. Vance with Josh Mandel, another candidate in Ohio’s Republican primary.
“We’ve endorsed J.P. — right? J.D. Mandel, and he’s doing great. They’re all doing good,” the former president told thousands of rallygoers. “And let’s see what happens.”
The gaffe was quickly seized upon by Morning Joe.
“Oh, my God,” Scarborough said, hooting with laughter. “You know, you know, if the current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue had done that, there would be headlines for, like, months. ‘Oh, he can’t remember,’ which, of course, underlines the fact, how funny it is, you have people, right-wing Trumpists attacking Joe Biden for his mental acuity, right before Donald Trump couldn’t remember who he endorsed.”
The “Morning Joe” host then brought up Trump boasting about acing a cognitive test used to determine whether a person has dementia.
“What were the six or seven words he could remember?” Scarborough said.
Trump bragged that he remembered the words “person, woman, man, camera, TV,” which he said astonished medical personnel, and Scarborough joked that perhaps the two GOP candidates could be fused together instead of running against one another.
“This from the former president was a remarkable performance, perhaps fusing together these Republican candidates, maybe he thinks it’ll be the best chance in Ohio,” Scarborough said. “Seriously, the guy — like, what planet is he on?”
Mike Gibbons, one of Vance’s primary opponents, released an email shortly after the rally, calling Trump’s mistake an indication the former president does not hold Vance in high esteem.
“Even after his endorsement, JD Vance is clearly irrelevant to President Trump, so much so he botched Vance’s name at his rally today in Nebraska. Quite the ringing endorsement, eh?” Gibbons asked.
Watch the Morning Joe segment below:
