White House denies Donald Trump has dementia

  • 08/12/2017

US President Donald Trump has been forced to defend his health after being accused of slurring through an important speech.

Mr Trump was announcing the move of the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, making United States the first country to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough said on his programme he believed the slurring was likely due to dementia.

He said he wanted to be "careful" with the suggestion, but that Mr Trump's pronunciation reminded him of his mother, who has dementia.

"Unfortunately in the case of my mother, I can move that to the side and I am totally fine with that," he said.

"In this case, Donald Trump has control of nuclear weapons."

Another possibility is dentures. An unnamed dentist told the Daily Mail he believes a loose denture plate is to blame.

"Saliva can get trapped between an upper plate and the palate, or between the lower plate and the lower jaw, and that's what makes the noise."

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told journalists the slurred speech was due to a dry throat rather than any underlying issues.

"There were a lot of questions on that - frankly, pretty ridiculous questions," she said.

"The President's throat was dry. Nothing more than that."

The White House says Mr Trump will have a thorough check-up and his medical certificate will be released in "the first part of the next year".

New opinion polling by the Pew Research Center has the President's approval rating a new low of 32 percent.

Newshub.