US President Donald Trump sparked online debate over his health after making an unusual comment while speaking about his son, Donald Trump Jr., during an Oval Office press conference on Thursday.
The moment came when Trump was asked whether he planned to attend Don Jr.’s reported wedding to socialite Bettina Anderson in the Bahamas over Memorial Day weekend.
Responding to reporters, Trump said, “He’d like me to go. I’m going to try. I said, ‘This is not a good time for me.’ I have a thing called Iran and other things. He’s a person I’ve known for a long time.”
The remark went viral online, with many social media users expressing confusion over Trump referring to his own son as “a person I’ve known for a long time.”
Internet reacts to Trump’s comment
Former Obama spokesperson TJ Adams-Falconer reacted to the clip on social media, writing, “‘My son is a person I’ve known a long time.’ The dementia really jump scares ya there…”
Several users also mocked the phrasing. One person wrote that calling one’s son “a person I’ve known for a long time” sounded “very strange,” while another joked that they had “heard warmer introductions from people describing their dentist.”
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However, some viewers argued the comments may have been taken out of context. According to interpretations, Trump appeared to shift mid-sentence from discussing Don Jr. to speaking about Anderson, whom he has reportedly known for years.
In the clip, Trump can be heard saying: “But he’s uh — he has a very — person I’ve known for a long time, and hopefully they’re going to have a great marriage.”
Trump jokes about criticism
During the same exchange, Trump also joked that he would face backlash regardless of whether he attended the wedding. “If I do attend, I get killed. If I don’t attend, I get killed,” he said, taking a swipe at what he frequently calls the “fake news” media.
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The comments come just weeks after Trump drew criticism during a White House Mother’s Day event when he referred to his youngest son, Barron Trump, by saying First Lady Melania Trump “has a little boy” instead of saying “we have a son.”
