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A frequent conservative talking point has been the mental competence of Democratic President Joe Biden.
Biden spoke at the White House Correspondent's Association dinner on Saturday—an event akin to a roast where no political or media figure is exempt from mockery.
Despite derogatory rhetoric from the right claiming Biden is non compos mentis, the POTUS held his own at the dinner getting shots in at members of his own party and staff as well as Fox News and the GOP.
Not faring as well over the weekend was conservative hero former Republican President Donald Trump.
Speaking at a MAGA rally in Nebraska on Sunday to a sparse crowd, the former POTUS confused two Republican candidates competing for the same Senate seat in Ohio.
He endorsed JD Mandel? Who is that?pic.twitter.com/SzunDPkd1p— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1651447411
Don\u2019t forget the shutting down of the Airport in the battle of Yorktown. Of whatever that was— Jim Gray (The former Chief) (@Jim Gray (The former Chief)) 1651448090
Seemingly forgetting the results of the 2018 and 2020 elections, Trump boasted the vast majority of the candidates he endorses go on to win.
He added:
"And you know if I lost one race, [the media would] say ‘Trump was humiliated!’."
"That’s what they’re waiting for, they’re waiting for one race.”
Trump then intended to list some of his recent endorsements.
Must have cut back on the budget for seat fillers.— Hedley \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b (@Hedley \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b) 1651449477
The former President said:
"You know we’ve endorsed Dr. Oz."
"We’ve endorsed J.P., right? J.D. Mandel."
“And he’s doing great, they’re all doing good."
However there has been no endorsement for nor a candidate named J.P. or J.D. Mandel.
Donald Trump just publicly endorsed "JD Mandel" in the Ohio Senate race. \n\nJD Vance and Josh Mandel are both running, but JD Mandel is not.— Aaron Parnas (@Aaron Parnas) 1651447725
Biden was sharp last night.— DaisyJane5 \ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@DaisyJane5 \ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1651450557
In Ohio, two of the GOP primary candidates for the Senate are J.D. Vance and Josh Mandel with seven Republicans all vying for a single spot on the November ballot. Both men courted Trump heavily while embracing far-right rhetoric in a highly contentious race.
In the end, Vance secured Trump's endorsement at the end of April—something Trump didn't recall two weeks later.
Given all of the right-wing rhetoric blasting President Biden's mental acuity, people picked up on Trump's gaffe.
Trump called racist lying scumbag Ohio candidate J.D. Vance JP Mandel instead!\n\nWho remembers at another rally when he screwed up .@RepMattGaetz another lying racist scumbag last name too?\n\nBut let the Republican scumbags tell it that President Biden has cognitive issues!— Official Account of (Activist) "Bad" Brad Berkwitt (@Official Account of (Activist) "Bad" Brad Berkwitt) 1651465705
Dear Ohio Republicans,\n\nImPOrtAnT meSsAge:\n\nOn election day, make sure to write in JP Mandel \u2026 or JD Mandel \u2026 or JC Mandel \u2026 to support Trump\u2019s favorite guy.— The Lib (@The Lib) 1651472485
Trump can\u2019t remember the guy he endorsed in OH & makes up a JD Mandel\n\nMarjorie Taylor Greene claims memory loss when confronted w/ her \u201cMarshall\u201d law text\n\nMcCarthy can\u2019t remember a single 1 of his phone calls\n\nThere seems to be an epidemic of convenient dementia within the GOP— Lindy Li (@Lindy Li) 1651462262
Announcing his endorsement of a candidate who doesn\u2019t exist at a rally for a gubernatorial candidate accused of sexually assaulting 8 women is so on brand it sounds scriptedhttps://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-crows-over-endorsement-of-jd-mandel-confusing-ohio-senate-candidates-jd-vance-josh-mandel?via=ios\u00a0\u2026— Brosephine Wires (@Brosephine Wires) 1651473236
More than one account for "JD Mandel" popped up on Twitter by Sunday evening.
Makes me want to move to Ohio or I can just register there like I\u2019m Mark Meadows or something.— Rachel Vindman \ud83c\udf3b (@Rachel Vindman \ud83c\udf3b) 1651459531
Trump said VOTE FOR JD MANDEL but you have to WRITE IT IN. #JDMandel #TrumpRallyhttps://twitter.com/jdmandelforohio/status/1520950992103264257\u00a0\u2026— MissT \ud83d\udc99\ud83d\ude37\u270c\ud83c\udffc\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@MissT \ud83d\udc99\ud83d\ude37\u270c\ud83c\udffc\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1651468680
Announcing his endorsement of a candidate who doesn\u2019t exist at a rally for a gubernatorial candidate accused of sexually assaulting 8 women is so on brand it sounds scriptedhttps://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-crows-over-endorsement-of-jd-mandel-confusing-ohio-senate-candidates-jd-vance-josh-mandel?via=ios\u00a0\u2026— Brosephine Wires (@Brosephine Wires) 1651473236
We know Trump endorsed JD Mandel. Josh Vance must be devastated.— Z\u0113ntif\u00e5 (@Z\u0113ntif\u00e5) 1651467475
If you live in Ohio and support Donald Trump, write the name \u201cJD Mandel\u201d for US Senate on November 8, 2022.\nYou won\u2019t lose.pic.twitter.com/roP6T89gdL— HUBERT TEMBA (@HUBERT TEMBA) 1651471787
Only if he endorses JD Mandel again! Trump is on top of his game!— Hildy Johnson \ud83d\udc83 (@Hildy Johnson \ud83d\udc83) 1651467220
The further down the brain hole Trump goes, the more MAGA will swear he\u2019s a genius.https://www.rawstory.com/trump-jd-vance-josh-mandel/\u00a0\u2026— Tea Pain (@Tea Pain) 1651453072
I\u2019m Ronald Trump and I endorse JD Mandel.— Save Our Democracy (@Save Our Democracy) 1651462524
Also, this guy...and pointing it out never gets old:pic.twitter.com/dOIqTKWnwS— Dottie (@Dottie) 1651462403
My good friends Dr. Oz and JP Mandelpic.twitter.com/Xa0zlt3uJa— Patrick Roan (@Patrick Roan) 1651464172
Trump’s flub came just two day's before the hotly contested Ohio Republican primary is set to occur on May 3.
Whether his confusing Josh Mandel and J.D. Vance at the last MAGA rally before then affects the primary results remains to be seen.
UPDATE: On Tuesday, May 2nd, Vance was asked whether he's concerned about Trump's mix-up.
His response:
Today in Ohio, @CBSNews asked Vance about \u201cJ.D. Mandel.\u201d \n\n\u201cLook, he gives, what, thousands of words of speeches every single week. Sometimes he's going to misspoke, misspeak. Everybody's going to do that. But he's doing a tele-townhall with us\u2026 I'm not worried about it at all.\u201d— Robert Costa (@Robert Costa) 1651513488