Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) had a frank and blunt quip when asked in an interview with The Atlantic's Mark Liebovich about the lifelong brain injury sustained by his wife, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, when she was shot by a deranged gunman in Tucson in 2011.
Specifically, Kelly, who has been speculated in some circles to be a possible 2028 presidential candidate, was asked whether America is ready to have a "disabled first lady."
His retort: “In my opinion, we have a pretty disabled president right now.”
President Donald Trump has long drawn concern from experts about potential signs of cognitive decline, including severely diminished energy during his speeches and his constant disorganized thoughts.
For his part, Trump continues to insist he "aced" the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a simple dementia screening test that does not necessarily measure the subject's cognitive aptitude.
Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut, has recently been the subject of Trump's fury, driven by his participation in a video with other military veteran Democratic politicians alerting servicemembers they have a duty to refuse illegal orders.
Trump's Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth responded with threats to court-martial Kelly, but ultimately didn't go that far and tried instead to demote his rank, a matter that has been the subject of months of litigation.