President Donald Trump was in the Oval Office, meeting two guests, when cameras captured him gripping a stack of briefing cards that seemed to do more than merely lay out talking points.
The cards carried portraits of the individuals he was about to meet and notes about the event—precisely the kind of behind-the-scenes help Republicans once cited as evidence that former President Joe Biden was too mentally unfit for the job.
The image is now giving Trump’s critics a chance to turn that line of attack back on him. Political commentators were quick to note the clear parallels between Trump’s meticulous briefing cards and the reference materials Republicans once ridiculed Biden for using.
Mental Fitness
The photograph has also revived a broader debate about whether Trump’s own age and mental acuity deserve the same level of scrutiny Republicans pressed Biden to face.
The image surfaced on Monday, when Trump saluted a 16-year-old California lifeguard and the 10-year-old he rescued. In a Tuesday podcast episode, progressive commentator David Pakman focused on the cards, which appeared to contain “photos of the two guests” along with “scheduling instructions.”
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“There are legitimate reasons to examine Donald Trump’s fitness,” Pakman told Raw Story. “Sixty percent of voters don’t think he has the mental sharpness to be president.”
Pakman said the cards looked as if they were prepared by White House staff and questioned why Trump would need photographs and instructions to identify the people he was meeting.
“It tells Trump what to do and what to say,” Pakman explained. “Can Donald Trump not even remember who two people are?”
Double Standards
He contended that the criticism aimed at Trump would feel familiar to anyone who watched the attacks on Biden during his presidency.
“This is exactly the type of thing that Republicans used to say Biden had dementia,” Pakman said. “The pictures would be circled in red. ‘Biden needs pictures to know who he’s with.’ Fox News would be showing it nonstop, and right-wing influencers would be asking, ‘Did Biden know where he was? Did Biden know who he was with?’”
Pakman noted that Republicans had treated Biden’s briefing materials as far more than routine prep, recalling how “some disgraced TV doctor would diagnose advanced dementia from 3,000 miles away.”
He then argued that the same standard should apply to Trump.
“If it proved that about Joe Biden, according to these people, it must also prove it about Donald Trump.”
Pakman also pointed to other areas where he said Republicans had applied different standards to Trump and Biden, including gas prices, teleprompter use, public sleepiness, and former President Barack Obama’s golfing schedule.
“What this proves is these Republicans don’t believe their own stupid standards,” Pakman said. “Because when Biden held a card, it was a national emergency. And when Trump holds one, he’s a very busy man.”
An Ominous Warning
The latest controversy arrives amid a string of recent episodes that critics cite when challenging Trump’s mental acuity.
Adam James, a licensed physical therapist who specializes in geriatric care, warned in March that Trump’s late-night Truth Social activity could indicate “sundowning,” a symptom linked with frontotemporal dementia in which agitation tends to rise in the evening.
“As you approach the evening hours around dinnertime, the sun goes down, a dementia patient grows more agitated, more paranoid, and overall harder to manage,” James said. “We’re seeing that in the president right now. He posts, I mean, 50, 60, 100 times on Truth Social—the most random, unhinged, AI-generated videos.”
James also referenced a “horrible racist video of the Obamas at 11:30 p.m. at night.”
“That’s peak dementia behavior: becoming completely paranoid, and we know he harbors strong animosity toward Barack Obama,” he said.
James pointed to Trump’s “forward-leaning posture in the standing position” as another possible indicator of frontotemporal dementia.
He also accused Trump of confabulation, describing it as a symptom where someone with frontotemporal dementia fills memory gaps with fabricated details they sincerely believe to be true.
Interviewer Dr. Steven Hassan called James’ assessment “really concerning” and noted unverified rumors claiming Trump suffers from adult incontinence involving “pooping in your diaper,” the outlet reported.
James said he had read that Trump was incontinent during “The Apprentice,” adding that “they had a guy there for him that he nicknamed ‘wet wipes,’ who was only there to clean up incontinence episodes.”
A Repeated Cycle
Trump has also recently stumbled over names in public. At a Friday event on Long Island, he seemed to forget the name of Saritha Komatireddy, the Republican candidate he endorsed to challenge New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“Where the hell are you… Ma’am? Where are you?” Trump asked from the podium.
The controversy over Trump’s cards stands out because Biden’s use of similar materials had become a major political talking point. Documents obtained by Fox News in 2025 showed five “palm cards” containing photographs, names, biographies and talking points prepared for Biden.
Meanwhile, a White House spokeswoman, Taylor Rogers, defended Trump while attacking Biden’s use of briefing materials.
“President Trump gives unfettered access to the media and answers every question imaginable, without pre-screening the press questions or collecting reporters’ palm cards ahead of time like his incompetent predecessor,” Rogers said. “Unlike Joe Biden, President Trump is actually running our country, and he doesn’t ever shy away from taking on the fake news to deliver the truth.”
‘Dementia Don’
Still, critics quickly piled on after the image of Trump with the cards circulated.
“A mix of stupidity, dementia and a delusional view of reality makes for a really scary POTUS,” one commenter wrote under the report.
“Mental sharpness? How about incredibly stupid,” another added.
Further comments flowed in.
“Oh come on, give SpongeBrain DiaperPants a break; he’s busy watching Fox, which leaves little brain for the governing job.”
“A cheat sheet for dementia, don,” quipped another user on Threads.
