Former President Trump appeared to refer to his wife Melania Trump as “Mercedes” to some watching his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday—but the president’s campaign and surrogates strongly pushed back on those reports, claiming he may have been referring to another person.
Trump may have been referring to Mercedes Schlapp, the wife of his former communications director ... [+]
While introducing his wife, former First Lady Melania Trump, the former president appeared to forget her name, just moments later saying, “Mercedes, that’s pretty good!”
Trump may have been referring to Mercedes Schlapp, a political commentator and wife of American Conservative Union (CPAC organizer) chair and former White House staffer Matt Schlapp.
After the speech, Mercedes Schlapp called reports on the gaffe “Fake News at its finest.”
At the end of the speech, Trump addressed Schlapp directly, blaming her for inviting him to speak at CPAC on the eve of the South Carolina primary: “If I do poorly, I’m going to blame Mercedes… because I am supposed to be there and I’m not there.”
However, it would not be the first time Trump has confused two people, including his wife—during a deposition for the sexual abuse lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll, Trump misidentified the columnist as his ex-wife Marla Maples.
In a statement sent to Forbes, the Trump campaign said “the crazy leftists on X continue to suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome and that's why they lie about everything,” but did not clarify who Trump was referring to in the original comment.
“My wife, our great First Lady—people love her,” Trump said while introducing his wife to the cheering crowd at CPAC. He continued seconds later as the crowd cheered: “people love her, oh look at that, wow! Mercedes, that’s pretty good!”
Questions about Trump’s mental competency have surrounded the former president as he campaigns for the Republican nomination. During the campaign season, Trump has frequently confused his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden, with former President Barack Obama. Trump and his campaign have claimed these mix-ups were “sarcastic” and intentional. At a campaign event in New Hampshire in January, Trump continuously confused Nikki Haley, his rival for the Republican nomination, with former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. According to recent polling conducted by ABC, 62% of voters believe Trump, 77, is too old to serve a second term as president.. Trump frequently brushes off these concerns, claiming he “aced” a cognitive test—but experts say only involve simple tasks and no complex math problems.
Trump went on to win the South Carolina primary on Saturday by a wide margin. The former president won 59% of the vote in his rival Nikki Haley’s home state, where she served as governor from 2011 to 2017.
Mental competency questions have dogged the Biden campaign, especially after the report released by Special Counsel Robert Hur on February 8 described his memory as ““significantly limited.” Biden has also made his share of gaffes and name mix-ups. At a press conference criticizing to the Hur report, Biden called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi the “president of Mexico.” In the same poll conducted by ABC, a startling 86% of respondents said Biden was too old to serve a second term as president.