The applause had barely died down when Donald Trump did what he so often does at rallies: he started talking about loyalty.
On stage in Georgia, the former president praised firebrand congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and mused aloud about whom he might back to replace her if she ever left the House. It was pure Trump theatre, flattery, speculation, a little bit of king‑making swagger.
There was only one problem. He had already endorsed her replacement. Publicly. Months earlier.
For most politicians, such a slip would be chalked up as a routine senior moment in a long campaign. In Trump's case, it has fed directly into a much sharper question that refuses to go away:is the 78‑year‑old Republican nominee still mentally sharp enough for the job he is demanding back?
The episode unfolded during a recent rally in Rome, Georgia, where Trump was stumping for Greene, one of his most loyal defenders in Congress, and other local candidates.
From the podium, he launched into a typically meandering riff about Greene's political future, telling the crowd he hoped she would run for the US Senate and promising that, if she did, he would support her. So far, so familiar.
Then he went further. If Greene moved up, Trump told cheering supporters, he would personally choose her successor in Georgia's 14th congressional district.
AsOK! Magazinefirst noted, he name‑checked local Republican party chairwoman Brandi King as the kind of person he might get behind.
It sounded very much like a live endorsement. Except that back in March, Trump had already formally endorsed another candidate, Kevin Cooke, for that exact seat.
The Cooke endorsement is still sitting on his website in black and white.
Source: International Business Times UK
