Former U.S. President Donald Trump erroneously implicated ex-Florida Governor Jeb Bush in Middle Eastern conflicts during his recent South Carolina campaign rally.
What Happened: Trump, who in his speech claimed to have the “world’s greatest memory,” mistakenly attributed military actions in the Middle East to Jeb Bush, who neither served as a U.S. president nor held any military position.
The former president’s speech aimed to remind his audience of his 2016 victory over Jeb Bush for the Republican presidential nomination. "When I came here, everyone thought Bush was going to win," he said.
"They thought Bush because Bush supposedly was a military person. Great. You know what he was a mili- … he got us into the, uh, he got us into the Middle East. How did that work out, right?"
Trump’s statement was quick to gain the attention of critics, who slammed the former president for mixing up Jeb Bush with George W. Bush, who in fact ordered the invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq two years later.
Why It Matters: Such faux pas are not new for Trump. Earlier this month, he erroneously claimed to have defeated Barack Obama in the 2016 elections, warned of an impending “World War II,” and insisted Americans need ID to buy bread.
Trump also recently challenged his opponents, including President Joe Biden, to undergo a mental acuity examination of his selection. He boasted about successfully completing a similar test himself. In 2020, he took the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA, which is not a mental acuity test but instead is used to check for signs of the cognitive impairments that could be an early sign of dementia.
Photo via Shutterstock.
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