前总统唐纳德·特朗普发出呼吁对手乔·拜登的年龄和精神健康状况他重返白宫竞选的一大部分。但在周一，他自己进行了辩护。
在一篇社交媒体帖子中，特朗普写道，尽管批评者声称，他在竞选演讲和其他场合中并没有反复混淆前总统巴拉克·奥巴马和现任总统拜登的名字。
在过去几个月的旅程中，特朗普在提到拜登时多次提到“奥巴马”，引起了他的批评者的注意，包括特朗普的共和党对手和拜登的助手，他们越来越试图聚焦特朗普自己的失态因为年龄仍然是2024年选举的中心议题。
最近在新罕布什尔州克莱尔蒙特的退伍军人日活动中，川普称奥巴马为“现任总统”，同时谈到前福克斯新闻频道主持人塔克·卡尔森对匈牙利领导人维克托·欧尔班的采访。
上个月在爱荷华州，特朗普说“奥巴马政府”，同时吹捧他在南部边境修建隔离墙的作用;9月，在华盛顿特区的一次竞选活动中，特朗普似乎说他在民调中领先奥巴马。
在周一的一篇社交媒体帖子中，特朗普说，在谈到美国总统时，他“讽刺地”用奥巴马的名字代替了拜登的名字——不是因为他不知道他们的名字。
特朗普写道:“我非常了解这两个名字，从来不会把它们搞混，我知道它们正在摧毁我们的国家。”
在他的帖子中，他还提出了毫无根据的阴谋，即六年前离任的奥巴马仍在拜登政府中保持影响力。
在回应特朗普的社交媒体帖子时，拜登的一名顾问指出了特朗普的其他失态。“这也是他对不知道二战发生的解释吗?或者土耳其和匈牙利是不同的国家?”顾问说，部分原因。他们还提到当特朗普臭名昭著的建议在疫情早期，人们可以注射消毒剂来治疗新冠肺炎。
“孩子们，记住不要注射漂白剂，”顾问说。
2022年4月5日，乔·拜登总统和前总统巴拉克·奥巴马在华盛顿特区白宫东厅。
Mandel Ngan/AFP通过Getty Images，文件
特朗普的解释呼应了他过去几个月反复发表的竞选言论——这与他对拜登身心健康的攻击有关。
“他的老板是谁?贝拉克·侯赛因·奥巴马、巴拉克·侯赛因、贝拉克·侯赛因·奥巴马，”川普10月在佛罗里达州的一次竞选集会上说。
值得注意的是，在上个月的福克斯新闻电台采访中，采访者布莱恩·基尔米德纠正了特朗普提到奥巴马时似乎指的是拜登。
“嗯，你是说拜登总统，”基尔米德说，特朗普反驳说:“奥巴马是拜登的老板。”
没有证据表明奥巴马在指导白宫决策方面有任何存在，尽管他在担任总统期间曾协助政府处理一些问题，最近帮助起草了一份新的白宫政策人工智能.
民调显示，美国人对拜登和特朗普的高龄都感到担忧，他们目前在明年的选举中领先于他们的政党提名人。然而，更多的人对拜登的年龄有疑问，他是有史以来最老的总统，在第二个任期开始时将是82岁。
在美国广播公司新闻和华盛顿邮报的民意调查中9月进行74%的美国人认为拜登年龄太大，不适合连任——自5月以来上升了6%——而50%的美国人认为特朗普年龄太大。
特朗普竞选发言人此前在一份声明中表示，他的失态与他和他的盟友强调拜登的失态不同，称“错误的叙述”没有影响特朗普的地位。
“人们知道特朗普总统是最强有力的候选人，”发言人张致恒在10月份表示，部分原因是。
注意到拜登过去的一些失误，如在空军一号的楼梯上绊倒，张德培接着说:“这是无法纠正的，会烙在选民的脑海中。”
拜登说，人们考虑他的年龄是公平的，但他也为自己的耐力和记录辩护。
“我感觉很好。我对前景感到兴奋，我认为我们即将真正以一种我们很久没有过的方式渡过难关，”拜登4月份告诉美国广播公司新闻首席白宫记者玛丽·布鲁斯。
Trump insists he isn't mixing up Obama and Biden as critics try to spotlight his gaffes
Former President Donald Trump has made calling outrival Joe Biden's age and mental fitnessa big part of his comeback campaign for the White House. But on Monday, he went on the defensive himself.
In a social media post, Trump wrote that despite what critics claim, he hasn't repeatedly mixed up the names of former President Barack Obama and current President Biden in his campaign speeches and other appearances.
On the trail over the last few months, Trump has said "Obama" multiple times when he appears to be referring to Biden, drawing attention from his detractors, including Trump's Republican rivals and Biden's aides, who are increasingly trying tospotlight Trump's own gaffesas age continues to be a central issue in the 2024 election.
Most recently at an event on Veterans Day in Claremont, New Hampshire, Trump called Obama the "current president" while talking about former Fox News host Tucker Carlson's interview with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban.
Last month in Iowa, Trump said "Obama administration" while touting his role in building walls along the southern border; and in September, at a campaign event in Washington, D.C., Trump appeared to say that he was leading Obama in the polls.
In a social media post on Monday, Trump said that he "sarcastically" replaces Obama's name for Biden's when talking about the president of the United States -- not because he doesn't know their names.
"I know both names very well, never mix them up, and know that they are destroying our Country," Trump wrote.
In his post, he also floated the baseless conspiracy that Obama, who left office six years ago, retains influence in the Biden administration.
Responding to Trump's social media post, a Biden adviser pointed back to other Trump gaffes. "Is that also his explanation for not knowing World War II happened? Or that Turkey's a different country than Hungary?" the adviser said, in part. They also referred to when Trumpinfamously suggestedthat people could inject disinfectant in order to treat COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic.
"Remember not to inject bleach, kids," the adviser said.
Trump's explanation echoes his recurring campaign rhetoric over the past few months -- which ties into his attacks on Biden's mental and physical health.
"Who's his boss? Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Hussein, Barack Hussein Obama," Trump said during a campaign rally in Florida in October.
Notably, during a Fox News Radio interview last month, interviewer Brian Kilmeade corrected Trump when he mentioned Obama while seeming to mean Biden.
"Well, you mean President Biden," Kilmeade said, to which Trump retorted: "Obama's Biden's boss."
There has been no evidence that Obama has any presence in directing White House decision-making, though he has assisted in the administration on topics he worked on while serving as president, most recently helping draft a new White House policy onartificial intelligence.
Polling shows Americans have concerns about the advanced age of both Biden and Trump, who are currently the front-runners to be their party's nominees in next year's election. However, more people have issues with the age of Biden, who is the oldest-ever president and would be 82 at the start of a second term.
In an ABC News/Washington Post pollconducted in September, 74% of Americans said Biden was too old for reelection -- up 6% since May -- while Trump was seen as too old by 50% of Americans.
A Trump campaign spokesperson previously said in a statement that his gaffes are different from the ones that he and his allies highlight of Biden, saying "false narratives" haven't affected Trump's standing.
"People know President Trump is the strongest candidate," spokesperson Steven Cheung said in October, in part.
Noting some of Biden's past snafus, such as tripping on Air Force One's staircase, Cheung continued then: "There's no correcting that and that will be seared into voter's minds."
Biden has said it's fair for people to consider his age, but he's also defended his stamina and record.
"I feel good. I feel excited about the prospects, and I think we're on the verge of really turning the corner in a way we haven't in a long time," Biden told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce in April.
