Harris Increases Pressure on Trump’s Mental Acuity After Bizarre Town Hall

Kamala Harris is increasing focus on Donald Trump’s mental fitness following a bewildering town hall where he played his favorite songs.

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Kamala Harris is increasing focus on Donald Trump’s mental fitness weeks ahead of the election, following a bewildering town hall on Monday where Trump abruptly abandoned questions to sway to his favorite songs for nearly 40 minutes. “Hope he’s okay,” Harris wrote on X, sharing a video from her campaign that depicted Trump dancing alone on stage after the event was cut short due to two medical emergencies in the crowd. “Trump appears lost, confused, and frozen,” the Harris campaign said. The town hall incident comes at a pivotal moment in the presidential election, as concerns about Trump’s age and health have become central to Harris’ campaign narrative. Trump, who is 78, would be the oldest president in history if he wins and finishes another term at 82. After President Joe Biden, 81, dropped out of the presidential race over the summer amid concerns about his own mental acuity, Harris, 59, has turned the issue on Trump. Read More: What Kind of President Would Kamala Harris Be? Over the weekend, Harris released her own medical records which stated that she possesses “the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.” She’s now ramping up the pressure on Trump to do the same. “I put out my medical records. He won’t put out his medical records. And you have to ask, why is this staff doing that?” Harris said in an interview on Monday. Over 230 pro-Harris healthcare professionals signed a letter dated Oct. 13 urging Trump to disclose his medical history, arguing that his behavior exhibits “alarming characteristics of declining acuity.” So far Trump has declined to do so. In Trump’s town hall on Monday in Pennsylvania, two people appeared to faint in the hot room. “Would anybody else like to faint?” Trump joked to the crowd. “Let’s not do any more questions, let’s just listen to music. Who the hell wants to hear questions, right?” For nearly 40 minutes, Trump played tunes from his rally playlist like James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” The Village People’s “YMCA” and a Luciano Pavarotti rendition of “Ave Maria.” Trump’s impromptu performance was met with both applause and alarm: Supporters hailed it as a display of his unique charm, while critics saw it as a troubling sign of instability. “I don’t recall seeing anything like this three weeks before an election,” Republicans Against Trump posted on X. “Trump is unraveling in front of our eyes. He’s going to lose.” The Trump campaign dismissed concerns about his health and age. Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called the event a “total lovefest” and claimed that “everyone was so excited they were fainting.” “President Trump has more energy and more stamina than anyone in politics, and is the smartest leader this country has ever seen,” Cheung said in a statement to TIME. “He does multiple public events every single day and the public can see he is sharper and more focused than ever before because the future of America is at stake… People know President Trump is the strongest and most capable candidate. He has out-worked and out-paced Kamala.” Read More: Doomsday and Democracy: Former Trump Aides Warn of Secret Presidential Crisis Powers Trump has consistently resisted calls to release detailed medical information in any of his three campaigns or during his presidency, opting instead for assurances from his doctors. During his hospitalization for COVID-19 in 2020, he downplayed the severity of his condition and initially refused to disclose whether he received supplemental oxygen. After a bullet grazed his ear at a campaign rally earlier this year, he provided minimal details about his injuries and recovery. Trump, whose father had Alzheimer’s, has also repeatedly claimed to have taken a cognitive test, stating in August that he “aced” it, but has not released the results to back up this assertion.   In a pair of Truth Social posts on Tuesday morning, Trump appeared unwilling to release any further medical information about himself. He claimed that he’s “far healthier than Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, but especially, Kamala,” but is “far too busy campaigning to take time” to prove it. “As to her completely desperate request for my Medical Statements, she is dying to see my Cholesterol (which is 180!), I have already provided them, many times, including quite recently, and they were flawless,” he wrote.  Write to Nik Popli at nik.popli@time.com

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