‘Only stupid people’ put old people into federal positions, says Donald Trump – so did he just admit what we think he did?

It’s no secret that as we age our cognitive and physical qualities start to decline. No one gets out of here alive, and while some of us fare better than others in the twilight of age, no one is spared the ravages of time. Unless you ask any of Donald Trump‘s fawning followers, his family, or the man himself — they’ll insist the 78-year-old is just as spry as he once was.

That braggadocios claim is starting to look pretty pathetic now that Trump is going head-to-head with the much younger Kamala Harris. At nearly 60, Harris is almost two decades younger, and her mental faculties are firing on all cylinders. The same can’t be said of Trump, who has had some truly unsettling, and very public, episodes that have called his aptitude into question.

And it isn’t just his critics who think Trump is too old to do the job. Old 45 himself weighed in on the debate over ages in politics, though he definitely didn’t mean to argue against his own cause.

“It’s amazing,” he said while talking with Bloomberg about the Supreme Court Justices he appointed into office, “because I got three [Justices] in four years. Most people get none. Because, you know, you put them in, they’re young. You tend to put them in young.”

Trump appointed three Justices during his tenure as president, all of whom were fairly young for their position. Neil Gorsuch was 49 years old, Brett Kavanaugh was 53, and Amy Coney Barrett was 48. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was 60 when she was appointed, and the relentless woman served until the day she died at 87.

Since Trump’s appointments, the Supreme Court has ushered in a slew of precedence-defying orders, like overturning Roe v Wade. The young appointees flipped the court to a conservative majority, one that is likely to remain for decades to come – which was always the 45th administration’s plan.

“Only stupid people put old…” Trump continued, “You know, you don’t put old in, because they’re there for two years or three years, right?”

Just a reminder, Trump is running for the highest office in the country at nearly 80 years old. He won’t be the oldest president if he wins – that title is held by Joe Biden – but he’ll be the same age “Sleepy Joe” was when he took the Oval Office. It’s sparked some concerns for people who see Vance as Trump’s “heir apparent,” a youthful politician with all the right connections and potentially one step away from the highest seat of power in the country.

When the interviewer flipped the question about age back on Trump himself, the former president brushed it aside, instead opting for a long-winded, rambling rant lauding the octogen, and nonagenarian billionaires he loves. He took a break from bragging about his wealthy acquaintances to claim he “never attacked” Biden on his age before bragging about acing his cognitive tests. Trump declined to release his medical records after Harris released hers in mid-October.

It’s such a familiar grift from the former president and his team. They claim to be Free Speech absolutists until someone says things they don’t like. They argue against women having the right to choose until it affects a woman in their life, and they argue that presidents should have a cutoff age until it’s their candidate who shows potential signs of dementia. But now we have it straight from Trump’s mouth, there is, in fact, an age cutoff, and Don’s way past the expiration date.