Internet Reacts to Trump’s Apparent Lisp During Interview With Elon Musk: ‘So Bad’

Donald Trump’s recent interview with Elon Musk was meant to showcase the former president’s continued relevance and influence, but instead, it ignited widespread concern over his health. During the interview, Trump remarked, "Congratulations because I see you broke every record on the book with so many millions of people and it's an honor, we view that as an honor. And you do want silencing of certain voices, usually, those are voices that have something to say that are constructive and so, we have to consider it an honor."

The interview, which was delayed by over 40 minutes, quickly became a focal point on social media due to what many listeners perceived as a noticeable lisp in Trump’s speech. Of course, people immediately took to social media to share their thoughts. One user wrote, “I am listening to Trump Space and I need to know why it sounds like Trump has a lisp or speaking like he bit his tongue. Something is not right!!” 

Another X user tweeted, “It really is striking to hear Trump’s frequent vocal issues in this event. It sounds like some combination of slurring and an audible lisp. If it was audio compression issues, it would be happening to the host as well, but it’s not. Whatever it is, it’s not good. #TrumpIsDone” In agreement, someone else wrote, “I went in for a few minutes and the slurring was so bad from Trump (also Elon as a moderator… the amount of breaks and imma made it nearly incoherent).”

However, Trump supporters defended him and slammed the critics. One user clapped back, “For all the doubters claiming Trump was lisping on the call, it was just Spaces compression. Here he is recorded on a phone in the same conversation sounding perfectly normal.” Someone else echoed a similar sentiment, “These were the people who freaked out over criticizing Biden's "stutter." Now they're talking about a non-existent lisp because they can't touch the substance of the conversation.” One user slammed, “But who cares if he did have a lisp? It's those small imperfections that make us perfectly human. He's still the GOAT.”

However, the debate didn’t end there. When pressed about the issue, Trump’s spokesperson Steven Cheung dismissed the concerns and exclaimed, "Must be your hearing." Yet, the incident has ignited more than just internet chatter. Clinical psychologist Ben Michaelis suggested, “There’s reasonable evidence suggestive of forms of dementia. The reduction in complexity of sentences and vocabulary does lead you to a certain picture of cognitive diminishment,” as reported by OK Magazine.

He further added, “Tangentiality certainly amped up and it’s difficult to follow him. You’d expect some cognitive diminishment, of course, he’s 78 years old — if he was your grandfather you wouldn’t expect anything different. He just happens to be running for president.”

The interview also drew criticism from the Harris campaign, which grabbed the opportunity to highlight, "Trump, slurring, says he's okay with climate change and rising sea levels because he thinks he'll 'have more oceanfront property'."