Trump has ‘lost a great deal mentally’ says Art of the Deal co-writer: ‘He literally cannot get his footing’

Donald Trump’s mental faculties are being questioned yet again, this time by his former nemesis Nancy Pelosi and the ghostwriter for his memoir and advice bookTrump: The Art of the Deal.

Speculation surrounding the Republican presidential candidate’s mental sharpness is not exactly new, but it has heightened since President Joe Biden pulled out of the 2024 race after struggling to give coherent answers during the June 27 debate, clearing the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to be nominated for the Democrat ticket.

Journalist and author Tony Schwartz told MSNBC’s Ari Melber, “This is a man who’s lost a great deal mentally,” on Thursday.

He also called the business mogul a “very different man” to the one he knew in the 1980s and “somewhat interacted with” in the 2016 and 2020 elections.

He continued, “This notion that he, that he is still, like, capable of exciting a crowd, I’m just not sure that I believe — beyond that 20 or 25 percent that are absolutely the core — is true anymore.”

Schwartz highlighted Trump’s own poor performance during the September 10 debate, his first showdown with Harris, as evidence that he “sure seems to have lost a step or two.”

“Of all the people I’ve watched deal with him over the years, Kamala has put him on his back feet more so, starting in the debate, but continuously, he literally cannot get his footing.”

“And I don’t think he will,” Schwartz added.

Trump spent the debate peddling several false claims, most notably that Haitian immigrants are eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio — a debunked rumor also promoted by his running mate, JD Vance — and that some Democrats support abortions in the ninth month of pregnancy and even “after birth.” Both claims were fact-checked by ABC