President Donald Trump attempted to power through a sweeping policy rollback, but the announcement quickly turned into a slow crawl — long breaths between lines and his eyes fixed on the cards in his hands.
A tired Trump leaning heavily on his podium announced the repeal of the Environmental Protection Agency’s “endangerment finding,” which allows the agency to address greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and factories, at a White House event on Thursday, Feb. 12, but was barely able to make it through.
That “endangerment finding” determined that fossil fuel emissions jeopardize human health, according to PBS, and is the backbone for legally regulating deadly emissions.
But even as Trump struggled to push through he once again veered into familiar territory, slipping in a remark critics called a racially loaded swipe at former President Barack Obama.
“In 2009, Barack Hussein Obama, his EPA, designated fossil fuels, such as oil, gas, and other things that actually make factories rock and roll,” a gasping President insisted, seemingly struggling to breathe as he slammed Obama, who opponents joke lives rent-free in Trump’s head.
“I’m so tired of his petty sh-t like using Obama’s full name to show his racism,” a Threads user pointed out.
Trump’s use of Obama’s full name is a way of jabbing him, and it’s considered a dog whistle, a coded and suggestive way of appealing to his racist white nationalist audience and his other prejudiced supporters, while appearing to remain neutral to the general public.
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Obama, for his part, never addresses Trump directly. The few times he has commented have been about either Trump’s authoritarian moves or, in this case, reacting to Trump’s dismantling of critical pollution regulations.
“Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules,” the former president wrote on X.
“Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change — all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money,” he added.
Another Threads user suggested Trump actually went off script at one point and made up the rest.
“I don’t think his notes says ‘rock and roll’. I think he realized he couldn’t say the real word that was written, that probably started with an r, and just started making something up.’
Others remarked on Trump’s poor health.
“Sounds like he’s about to keel over So tired these days Donald.”
This Threads user also commented on Trump’s efforts to breathe, “Bruh, he’s def dying in front of our eyes. What the f-ck is this? Dude can barely breathe…”
The day before, on Wednesday, Feb. 11, Trump suffered another embarrassing health attack of some sort when he began slurring and talking gibberish during a speech after the Washington Coal Club lobbying group presented him with the “Undisputed Champion of Coal” award.
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“I’m proud to officially name the undispuut …” the president began before slurring and speaking unintelligibly for several seconds.
Social media had no sympathy for him after that incident either.
“He lives. Mitch McConnell lives. Dawson and Moira Rose die. F-ck this sh-t,” this Threads user angrily proclaimed.
Another amped up speculation about Trump’s health, again, which has been in the spotlight for months now.
“Part of Alzheimer’s is when you officially start to slur your words as your face droops like his is currently.”
Rumors have been swirling for months about Trump’s mental and physical fitness for office.
A sizable number of people believe Trump suffered a stroke, possibly during either a Memorial Day event last year or another one during a ceremony marking 9/11, when his face visibly drooped.
He has repeatedly mentioned that he “aced” three cognitive tests last year, which are not IQ tests, as Trump seems to think, but are instead used to diagnose dementia and other related illnesses.
And he has a long list of possible health issues. During his arrival at his New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate, he was seen slightly dragging his left leg before straightening up and trying to conceal it as he realized the cameras were on him.
He regularly dozes off at White House meetings and events. He’s been covering up ugly purple bruises on his hands for several years, and he’s admitted to a condition known as chronic venous insufficiency, which affects many older Americans, causing swollen ankles.
