President Donald Trump on Friday appeared to baselessly question House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s mental fitness amid an ongoing feud with the California Democrat over congressional investigations into the administration.
“You think Nancy is the same as she was? She’s not. Maybe we can all say that,” Trump told reporters ahead of a trip to Japan, with no evidence to back up his claim.
His comments followed several days of back-and-forth between Trump and Pelosi after the president reportedly walked out of a meeting to discuss infrastructure with Democratic leaders on Wednesday.
The president appeared to be angry with Pelosi for saying he was “engaged in a cover-up.”
At a White House event Thursday afternoon, Trump called Pelosi “crazy Nancy” and “a mess” and countered the House Speaker’s account that he had a “temper tantrum” over Democratic leaders’ continued investigations into his administration.
Trump later on Thursday tweeted an edited video that featured short clips from a news conference Pelosi held on Thursday.
“PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERENCE,” the president wrote in all-caps along with the clip, which appeared to air on a segment of Fox Business’ “Lou Dobbs Tonight.”
Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, also tweeted a doctored video of Pelosi that was making the rounds of right-wing media on Thursday.
“What is wrong with Nancy Pelosi?” Giuliani asked in the initial tweet, which he ultimately deleted. “Her speech pattern is bizarre.”
Trump’s attempts to gain a political upper hand by questioning Pelosi’s mental fitness echo similar attacks he and his allies made about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.
Conservative commentators had a field day spreading conspiracy theories about Clinton’s health during the election, baselessly claiming she had experienced brain damage or had some other secret and life-threatening condition that made her unfit for the presidency.
“Honestly, I don’t think she’s all there,” Trump said of Clinton during an August 2016 campaign speech.