Critics Mock Trump For Choking On 'Totalitarianism' In Mount Rushmore Diatribe

Of all the words President Donald Trump could have flubbed in his harangue railing against “far-left fascism” at Mount Rushmore, “totalitarianism” was the perfect stumble, critics jabbed on Twitter Saturday.

Trump, as he does when he’s muddled about pronunciation, seemed to fade out mid-word in his speech Friday evening, but appeared to say something like “toe-tally-tario-tism.” (He also mispronounced “Ulysses S. Grant” as “Ulysse-us.”)

Trump slashed anti-racism protests across the nation, characterizing activists as a “violent” mob ― an inaccurate characterization of the mostly peaceful demonstrations ― and vowing to take action against them, In the process he echoed words used by totalitarian regimes against protesters, making it all-the-more rich that he mispronounced totalitarianism.

The Lincoln Project, comprised of never-Trump Republicans who have emerged as among his wittiest and sharp-edged critics, played a clip of the president mangling the word — then followed up with a photo of him saluting a military official of North Korea.

Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, also noted the word stumble. Even more troubling, he emphasized, is that “Trump has no idea what words like fascism and totalitarianism mean.”

He called Trump’s address “perhaps the most un-American speech ever delivered by an American president & on the July 4th weekend no less.” McFaul said his “only solace” is that the “degree of craziness” of the speech is “probably best explained by Trump’s current level of desperation.”

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