Critics Question Trump's Mental Fitness After Claiming Venezuela 'Can't Have Elections' Sparks Fury

In a moment that set social media ablaze with accusations of cognitive decline, President Trump made a striking assertion about Venezuela's electoral capabilities that left political observers questioning both his grasp of recent history and his understanding of democratic restoration.

Yet beneath the inflammatory language and amateur diagnosis lies a more nuanced—if still problematic—reality about America's deeply controversial new approach to Latin American intervention.

During a Thursday evening interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity at the White House, Trump was asked about the prospects for free and fair elections in Venezuela. His response cut through diplomatic niceties with characteristic directness.

'They wouldn't even know how to have an election,' he said flatly. 'We're going to rebuild the oil—the oil infrastructure. We're going to be in charge of it. We're going to make a lot of money.'

The statement proved instantly controversial, not merely for its crude prioritisation of petroleum over democracy, but also for its apparent disconnection from recent Venezuelan electoral history.

Venezuela held a presidential election in July 2024 and parliamentary elections just last May. To suggest the nation 'wouldn't know how' to conduct elections appeared, to many observers, to reveal either a startling gap in the president's knowledge or something more troubling.

Trump's Venezuela Gaffe: A Pattern of Problematic Statements

Within hours, social media erupted with commentary from across the political spectrum, with many posters invoking medical terminology to characterise the claim. Veteran Frank C tweeted, 'His dementia is acting up again. This fool has lost his f------ mind.' Activist Matthew J Shochat offered a blunter reality check: '1) They had one last year. 2) The people you are working with there were the cheaters in that election.'

Former prosecutor Ron Filipkowski posed a more pointed question: 'Can we hear from Rick Scott and the South FL Republican members of Congress on this today?' The implication was clear. With a significant Cuban and Venezuelan diaspora population in South Florida, Republican members from the region might find Trump's comments particularly sensitive.

The substance of the criticism cuts deeper than mere rhetorical sloppiness. Venezuela has indeed conducted elections. The problem, according to international observers and opposition groups, is not Venezuela's incapacity to hold electoral processes, but rather the systematic manipulation, lack of transparency, and disputed legitimacy that have characterised recent ballots.

The July 2024 presidential election saw opposition candidate Edmundo González claim victory based on 80 per cent of the printed tally sheets, whilst Nicolás Maduro's government announced its own contradictory results and moved to reinaugurate the strongman for a third term.

Former foreign correspondent Roland Ley and former Navy wife Rebecca Clester both seized on what they perceived as Trump's true priority. 'Not liberation, US colonisation,' Ley wrote.

Clester expanded on the point: 'He made his priority perfectly clear to EXTORT OIL, OIL & MORE OIL.' Political analyst WarMonitor drew a more pointed comparison: 'Sounds like Trump wants to run the country himself, replacing one dictatorship with another.'

Trump's Track Record on Cognitive Health: Questions and Controversy

The question of Trump's mental fitness has become an increasingly fraught topic in recent weeks and months. The president has claimed to have passed three consecutive cognitive examinations, each time scoring 100 per cent on what he characterises as a rigorous assessment.

In a Truth Social post on New Year's Day, Trump announced his latest alleged success: 'The White House Doctors have just reported that I am in "PERFECT HEALTH," and that I "ACED" (meaning, was correct on 100% of the questions asked!), for the third straight time, my Cognitive Examination.'

Medical professionals have offered competing interpretations of this frequent testing. Dr John Gartner, a clinical psychologist, suggested to The Daily Beast that repeatedly taking the same cognitive assessment at such frequency raises concerns rather than allays them.

'You might justify administering the MoCA once, given his age, as part of a routine physical. However, if he's receiving it three times, it suggests that they are not diagnosing dementia but monitoring it,' Gartner explained.

Others have pointed to observable changes in Trump's comportment and physical presentation. Dr Vin Gupta, a medical analyst for NBC News, characterised Trump's repeated boasting about cognitive test scores as counterproductive.

'This is not the display he believes it to be,' Gupta said. 'You do this every other day and use as proof of your cognitive health, but individuals undergoing Montreal Cognitive Assessment Tool testing with such frequency often raise concerns about early-stage dementia or cognitive decline.'

The White House has remained defensive on the subject. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that 'Trump has nothing to conceal, unlike his predecessor Joe Biden, who avoided the press and misled the public about his clear physical and mental decline.'

Yet the fact remains that Trump, who will turn 80 in June 2026, is currently the oldest individual to assume the presidency, and scrutiny regarding his fitness to serve appears unlikely to diminish regardless of test results.

What remains clear is that Trump's comments about Venezuela reflect not merely a disconnect from recent history but a broader pattern of controversial statements and decisions that continue to invite questions about his judgment, his knowledge, and his understanding of complex geopolitical situations.