Trump on '30-second ice' report: "Music played and then silence"

Donald Trump, the former U.S. president and Republican presidential candidate, on the 20th (local time) refuted reports that he was in a '30-second frozen' state during a speech, calling it a "fake story created by the Joe Biden camp."

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Former President Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on the 20th (local time), "(At that time) I was entering a musical interlude," adding, "A 30 to 60-second silence is standard in all speeches that use music."

He posted the video of his speech at the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual meeting, which sparked the controversy, saying, "Check anything in my speech," and claimed, "The reason they made up false information is because Biden is always frozen, cannot even combine two sentences, and without help, he can't even find his way off the stage." He emphasized, "Donald Trump does not freeze."

Earlier, during a roughly 1 hour and 30-minute speech at the NRA annual meeting held in Dallas, Texas, on the 18th, former President Trump suddenly fell silent for 30 seconds, sparking concerns about age-related risks. This led to criticism mainly from Democratic supporters, saying "He froze during the campaign" and "He is unfit for the presidency due to cognitive issues." This was used as a counterattack against Trump by leveraging the age-related risk that has been a stumbling block for 81-year-old President Biden. Trump is 77 years old this year.

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