President Donald Trump appeared "exhausted" and made a number of gaffes during his speech to the America Business Forum in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday, his critics said.
Speaking to business leaders, Trump appeared to confuse South Africa with South America, where he said people came to the U.S. fleeing communism. South Africa was never a communist country, but countries like Venezuela and Colombia have contributed to immigrants fleeing communism for America. Trump has spent the past several months in office sending them back.
The flub only contributed to an "unfollowable ramble," conspiracy expert and journalist Mike Rothschild wrote on X.
"Trump visibly leaning and holding on through an exhausted and unfollowable ramble, bouncing between subjects and countries and half-formed sentences to a silent audience. This doesn't really feel sustainable," he said.
"Was this intentional? Because Florida ranks No. 6 among states that are home to people from South Africa, but is No. 1 for pretty much every South American nation from which people flee communism, including Venezuela, Colombia, etc. Also, South Africa is a capitalist country," FloridaPolitics.com reporter Jacob Ogles said.
"Trump is senile," said photographer and influencer Mayra a.k.a. @LePapillonBlu2.
Media veteran Tim Modise commented, "South Africa or South America, same same" and added a shrug and face-palm emoji.
"if Joe Biden said this during a speech Hannity would immediately start anchoring special coverage and the New York Times would fire up a live blog breaking down every syllable," said Aaron Rupar after posting the video.
"It’s that time of day again - for him to get on camera and say stupid s--t," economist Tony Annett said on X.
One South African resident questioned, "Is this man ok? Genuinely curious because this is not normal."
Another individual questioned, "Joe Biden accidentally mixed up Emmanuel Macron with Francois Mitterand and it practically ended his presidency with the political media"
