Is Donald Trump, Um, You Know, Getting a Little…Forgetful?

Bill Clark/Congressional Quarterly/Newscom via ZUMA

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Donald Trump keeps talking about not passing Obamacare because a senator is in the hospital. There is no senator in the hospital.

It started Wednesday on—of course—Twitter. Trump later explained that he was talking about Thad Cochran, who is at home recuperating from surgery. But Cochran isn’t hospitalized. And he said he’d show up for a vote if needed.

Then Trump repeated the claim on Thursday. And then again.

To recap: Cochran isn’t in the hospital. He’s available to vote. And it wouldn’t matter anyway, since even with Cochran, Republicans don’t have 50 votes.

Then there was this, when asked why Sudan was removed from the latest version of the travel ban:

TRUMP: Well, the people – yeah, the people allowed – certain countries – but we can add countries very easily and we can take countries away.

REPORTER: What did Sudan do right?

TRUMP: And as far as the travel ban is concerned, whatever it is, I want the toughest travel ban you can have. So I’ll see you in Indiana.

Is Trump lying? Or is he showing signs of senility? It’s possible that we’re all missing the big story here by shrugging off all his peculiar lies as merely standard Trumpian bluster and misdirection.

BY THE WAY: Kudos to Cork Airport for providing the free, high-quality WiFi that made this post possible.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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