Donald Trump’s ‘Glitch’ During NRA Speech Raises Questions

Former President Donald Trump sparked commentary on social media after he stopped speaking for more than 30 seconds during a speech.

Trump addressed thousands of members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) at the group’s annual meeting in Texas on Saturday. The NRA officially endorsed him for president moments before he took the stage.

The presumptive GOP nominee urged gun owners to vote in November, saying the Second Amendment was on the ballot.

At one point more than an hour into his speech, Trump remained silent for an extended period of time after praising the state of Texas.

“The Texas spirit of proud independence was forged by cowboys and cattle hands, ranchers and rangers, oil workers, soldiers and brave, brave, brave, pioneers,” he said.

“Many came here with nothing but the boots or their feet, the clothes on their back, and the gun in their saddle. Together they helped make America into the single greatest nation in the history of the world.”

Trump was then silent for more than 30 seconds while music played, and at one point, shook his head.

“But now we are a nation in decline,” Trump then said. “We are a failing nation. We are a nation that has the highest inflation in 58 years, where banks are collapsing, and interest rates are skyrocketing.”

Newsweek has contacted a Trump spokesperson for comment via email.

President Joe Biden’s campaign shared a clip of the moment on X, formerly Twitter, prompting others to speculate about what had caused Trump to stop speaking.

In a viral post, the Biden’s Wins account said Trump “glitched out and froze.” The post added: “He is clearly unfit for office. Retweet so every American knows Trump is senile.”

Harry Sisson, a Democrat content creator, wrote that Trump “just FROZE for a solid 30 seconds. This guy is clearly unfit to serve. He has mentally declined rapidly, and it’s very clear. He needs to drop out of the race ASAP!”

“Trump sundowning again. This time with a 30 second brain glitch,” another X user posted.

Others suggested that Trump’s teleprompter had stopped working.

He was “shaking his head in disgust as his teleprompter went down,” one person wrote.

“I don’t know if Trump’s teleprompter went out or if he just had a Glitch McConnell episode, but pausing for a full 33 seconds mid-speech for no reason is really weird,” another person wrote, in an apparent reference to occasions where Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has appeared to freeze up in public.

But Trump supporters said the lengthy pause was intentional.

“He is pausing for effect. He is also wrestling with some sadness, due to the disastrous state of his beloved country,” one person wrote.

Another wrote: “Anyone who’s watched a Trump rally knows he was pausing for the music.”