Ahead of his planned military parade this weekend, Donald Trump spoke at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Tuesday, where he announced he was restoring the names of Confederate generals to various Army bases. He also spread a variety of conspiracy theories about the unfolding situation in Los Angeles. Writing for MSNBC, Stephen Saideman, Paterson Chair in International Affairs at Carleton University, characterized the speech as “a serious step toward ending democracy.”
“Trump gave a virulently partisan speech at Fort Bragg, during which he egged on the troops to boo the Democrats serving as mayor of Los Angeles and governor of California. This speech, by itself, is incredibly damaging, as it projects the image of the military siding with the president against his political foes,” wrote Saideman.
CNN’s fact-checker Daniel Dale noted that Trump fudged some numbers in the speech about recruitment figures during the presidency of his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Also in the speech, Trump took a shot at Biden in front of the soldiers, but botched it.
Trump on Biden: I knew this guy a long time. He was never the sharpest bulb pic.twitter.com/zzbeCDMYhR
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 10, 2025
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According to HuffPost, Trump said in the speech that “I’ve known this guy for a long time… He was never the sharpest bulb.”
As noted by many, Trump had conflated two terms, “the sharpest tool in the shed” and “the brightest bulb,” all in the process of taking a shot at the former president’s mental acuity.
There was quite a bit of mockery of this on social media.
If they laugh about the former Commander in Chief, President Biden, what makes trump think they won’t be laughing about him when his term is finished? https://t.co/ox8ZxYlJc3
— Mary Kay Michaels (@marykaym1004) June 11, 2025
Sharpest knife/brightest bulb.
This is some Biff Tannen speak right here.
Guess who Biff was inspired by? 👇👇👇🥴 https://t.co/Yu1WTsqsxR
— Rita Powell (@Rizabellepow) June 11, 2025
“The sharpest bulb”
Evidence of Trump’s stupidity and cognitive decline continue to mount, Vance needs to seriously consider invoking the 25th amendment https://t.co/6qYdPT1cNi
— Jessiah (@thepondering_) June 10, 2025
“Not the sharpest bulb.” What the hell does that even mean?
Are we sharpening our lightbulbs now? Are we screwing our steak knives into the ceiling for better light?
The man is trying to call someone else dumb, and he sounds like he just had a goddamn stroke in the middle of…
— Projekt Europa (@braesikalla) June 10, 2025
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
