President Donald Trump boasted Friday morning about the success of a primetime address that spurred critics to call him "unhinged" and the speech "proof of dementia."
Trump wrote on Truth Social that his White House address Thursday night had been viewed by a "big audience" and received "great reviews."
Trump spoke for 25 minutes on documents he claimed showed Chinese interference in the 2020 presidential election and offered no new evidence that a single fraudulent vote was cast, according to NPR.
ABC, NBC, and CNN had all refused to carry the speech on their linear broadcast networks, citing concern that Trump would repeat his long-running claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
After the speech, Trump's "reviews" rolled in.
"It was an utterly ridiculous thing from start to finish," MS NOW host Lawrence O'Donnell said. "The networks who refused to cover it did exactly the right thing."
O'Donnell then compared Trump's speech to recent efforts from another aging Republican seeking public approval.
"After Mitch McConnell issued a proof of life photograph earlier this week, Donald Trump delivered a proof of dementia video tonight, twenty-five minutes of it," O'Donnell said. "Election dementia anyway. At minimum, election dementia."
A slew of lawmakers echoed O'Donnells concerns.
- "Something is really wrong with this guy. I think he actually needs to be checked out. Why does he continue to focus on a conspiracy theory related to a 2020 presidential election that every rational person in the United States of America knows he lost?" — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
- "Tonight, a weak and flailing Donald Trump will give a speech full of grievances and blatant lies. He is laying the groundwork for the rigging of the 2026 midterm elections." — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
- "Last night was 25 minutes of conspiracy theories from a man who still can't get over 2020. Not one word about your rent, groceries, or health care. His lies are the point — it's how he tries to justify taking over election systems ahead of the midterms in order to hold onto power." — Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ)
- "This is a pretext for the president, I think, calling into dispute the 2026 midterm elections. That is what he is trying to do, sew so much confusion about it that he can use extraordinary powers to try to take the vote away from the American people." — Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), speaking on Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network
- "Trump's claims tonight aren't about election security. They're about a sore loser who refuses to accept responsibility for rising costs and a failing economy, trying to lay the groundwork for claiming the next election is rigged if he doesn't like the outcome." — Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
- "As Americans struggle with rising costs, Trump delivered an unhinged speech filled with lies while pushing voter suppression laws that would undermine our democracy." — Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-NJ)
- "I liked this speech better when it was between a crematorium and an adult book store." — Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel Jr., writing on X
