Donald Trump Is 'Beginning to Fail in Plain Sight' at Campaign Rallies, CNN Host Joanna Coles Claims

Donald Trump is 'beginning to fail in plain sight', podcaster Joanna Coles claimed on Monday, 26 October 2026. She argued that some people attending his campaign rallies appeared embarrassed by the president's behaviour.

The discussion came ahead of the 2026 midterm elections and followed Trump's Michigan rally on 25 October, where the 80-year-old president praised rapper Nicki Minaj and discussed Senator Jon Husted's appearance. Trump also disputed the way his remarks about Husted had been portrayed in the media.

Donald Trump's Rally Conduct Divides CNN Panel

Coles, who co-hosts the Inside Trump's Head podcast, joined Van Jones and Scott Jennings for a roundtable during CNN's NewsNight programme.

'If you also pan the crowd when Donald Trump is speaking, now he's started making these strange noises. You see the crowd behind him looking really embarrassed for him,' Coles stated.

She linked those noises to her broader assessment of Trump's recent appearances, describing them as 'an indication of Trump beginning to fail in plain sight.'

Scott Jennings rejected that interpretation, declaring the president was 'fine'. Coles responded with a brief question. 'Is he fine?'

Van Jones also raised Trump's comments about men's backsides. 'To be fair, it's not just men,' Jennings joked.

Coles' assessment of Trump's behaviour did not establish a clinical finding about his cognitive health.

Donald Trump's Comments About Minaj and Husted

Before inviting Minaj to speak at the Michigan event, Trump complimented the rapper's backside.

'I looked at one hell of a beautiful a-- before — Nicki Minaj. That's hard to miss.'

Trump also discussed his remarks about Husted, Ohio's Republican senator, telling the crowd that his comment had been in jest.

'I'm looking at him up and down and I'm studying him and then I made the mistake: I told, in fun, I said, 'I looked at his a--, and I've never done that with a man before.' It's true,' Trump told the crowd. 'Off the record, women, yes. Men, no. Okay?'

Donald Trump Draws Criticism on X

On X, the disagreement prompted criticism of both Trump's remarks and Jennings' defence. Some users echoed Coles' concerns, with one directing their frustration at the president's supporters. 'MAGA, that is our president. The world is laughing at us. What is wrong with you people?'

Another attacked Jennings' defence of the president. 'Scott Jennings says Trump is fine. That's something a sychophant would say. Trump is in cognitive decline, apparent to most of us.'

A third user linked Trump's comments about Minaj to his remarks about men, writing, 'Scott Jennings on #CNN doesn't seem to understand that Donald Trump started talking about Icki Minaj's butt because everyone was weirded out by him obsessing with men's butts...'

At the Michigan rally, Trump had maintained that coverage overlooked the football context of his remarks about Husted.

'The press went crazy the next day. They said, 'What's with Trump? All he wants to do is talk about a man's a--.' They didn't explain the whole football deal. That's why with the fake news, you cannot do that stuff. You have to go right down the middle.'

Husted played football at the University of Dayton. Trump invoked that sporting background when defending his account of admiring the senator's athletic build.