Ex-Trump Official Says Former President's Mix-Ups Have 'Gotten Worse'

Former Donald Trump aide Alyssa Farah Griffin says the former president has become progressively less “sharp” since he was first elected.

During an appearance on CNN Monday morning, Griffin was asked about a string of verbal slip-ups the GOP presidential front-runner made in speeches over the weekend.

“You saw Donald Trump firsthand when he was, albeit four years or several years younger, at least. How much does he miss or mix up facts and the like?” CNN’s John Berman asked.

“I have said this before, he is not as sharp as he was in 2016 and not even as sharp as he was in 2020,” Griffin said.

She went on to say that Trump “is not the strongest fighter that Republicans could have right now,” adding that it’s “remarkable how much voters don’t see [his] age as also an issue because he is only 3 1/2 years younger than President Joe Biden.”

Griffin was Trump’s White House communications director for eight months in 2020. She also served as a press secretary for former Vice President Mike Pence and the Department of Defense.

Griffin said Trump has “never been a super articulate or eloquent person,” but he’s been consistently mixing up the names of people like Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley recently.

“It’s gotten worse,” she said. “It hasn’t gotten better. He’s not nearly as sharp as he was.”

Age has become a key issue in the 2024 race, with a Trump-Biden rematch appearing almost inevitable. Trump, 77, and his allies have persistently cast Biden, 81, as too old and cognitively impaired. The Biden camp has increasingly hit back, pointing to Trump’s routine gaffes.

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