Former Trump aide says he is ‘not as sharp’ as he was during 2016 election

A former presidential aide to Donald Trump has said that he is now “not as sharp” as he was during the 2016 election.

Alyssa Farah Griffin said that the former president was “not the strongest fighter the Republicans could have right now” and that he had always had problems recalling facts or names.

It comes as questions about the mental fitness of Mr Trump, 77, and President Joe Biden, 81, continue to swirl. Despite this an all-but-certain rematch between the two men looms in November.

A recent poll from The New York Times/Siena College found that 47 per cent of survey respondents strongly agreed with the statement that Mr Biden is too old to be effective, while 26 per cent somewhat agreed.

For Mr Trump, 21 per cent strongly agreed that he’s too old, another 21 per cent somewhat agreed.

Over the weekend a crowd of Trump supporters who had gathered in Richmond, Virginia to hear the former president speak went silent as he appeared to mix up Mr Biden and Barack Obama yet again.

“Shortly after we win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled,” Mr Trump said on Saturday.

“I know them both very well and we will restore peace through strength. Get that war settled. It’s a bad war. And Putin has so little respect for Obama that he’s starting to throw around the nuclear word,” Mr Trump added, seemingly in the false belief that Mr Biden’s former boss remains in charge.

He has made the same slip several times and has sought to explain that and other gaffes – such as mixing up Democratic former House speaker Nancy Pelosi with his Republican rival for the 2024 nomination Nikki Haley – by claiming he is doing it deliberately for reasons of “humour” and “sarcasm”.

In an interview with CNN, Ms Griffin – who was special assistant to Mr Trump from October 2017 to September 2019 – was asked how frequent Mr Trump muddled up facts, in relation to his recent campaign gaffes.

"I have said this before, he is not as sharp as he was in 2016 and not even as sharp as he was in 2020. For some reason, that doesn’t necessarily come across to voters the same way," she said.

Ms Griffin, who is also a co-host of ABC’s The View and a political commentator, also questioned why voters don’t see this as an issue, adding that the mix-ups have gotten worse.

"But Donald Trump is not the strongest fighter that Republicans could have right now and it’s remarkable how much voters don’t see the age as also an issue because he is only three-and-a-half years younger than President Joe Biden,” she said.

“But there’s something about the way they carry themselves that is just seen very differently...I mean, it’s gotten worse, it hasn’t gotten better. He’s not nearly as sharp as he was.”