a nervous breakdown.

Or maybe Alzheimer's disease. Or he could be having a nervous breakdown.

I don't know much about mental disorders, but I know he's got one. I bet students in psychology classes will be watching the debates and studying his behavior for a long, long time.

They should really just have a picture of Trump.

He was winging it.

He probably read through the first bit, but then never studied most of it. He seemed as if was seeing some of it for the first time. And, he certainly didn't write any of it.

Oh, that plus the mental illness.

... was written for him. His writers probably thought the more over-the-top stuff would go over better than it did, having led up to it with some actual good laughs.

But Trump's delivery and demeanour definitely changed when he got into the mean shit - I think because that's his normal way of being, and he was more comfortable with the material - as opposed to the "ha-ha, I'm such a funny guy" routine.

I knew he was going to lose it and go back to his own thoughts.

The jokes he read at first were funny and then he was booed, the Cardinal had to reassure Clinton, everyone's eyes went down.

Nothing was off-the-cuff - because we both know he doesn't have the wit, or the think-on-your-feet ability to come up with anything remotely funny.

Whoever wrote the script obviously didn't think it through, and realize lines were being crossed with a lot of the material - especially as it would come off being delivered by Trump.

I hope they got paid up front.

someone on one of the talking head's shows said that they just didn't care. That Bannon, et al, had been waiting for 25 years to say these things to the Clintons and that to say them was more important than anything else. It's like telling your boss to go F himself, and not caring if you get fired, because you've hated him for 25 years.

That made a lot of sense to me.

funny in the spirit of a roast was the one about Melania's speech. And you notice that there was no dig at himself (or Hillary, for that matter).

Trump is one of those narcissistic, low-self-esteem, non-introspective bullies who cannot, just cannot, poke fun at himself OR even understand the nature of a "roast." You know how we marvel that so many conservatives can't do humor, or understand irony or sarcasm? That's Trump. He didn't hire a real comic to write his speech because he's totally tone deaf with regard to even the idea of a roast. He had no way of knowing that he needed a comic. Even if he had watched the last three roasts, he would not have understood what was going on.

I can totally believe that Bannon wrote his stuff and that story is true. What's revealing is that Trump could read over the speech and have no idea that it was not in the spirit of a roast.

He gets worked up, like his emotional buttons are getting pushed. Maybe if the crowd does not react well, it gets to him. This time it wasn't Hillary tossing out irresistible bait.

He goes to that dark place with ease, can't maintain the mask all the time. Watching him in a social setting, uncomfortable as all hell, says a lot. I like that part of this dinner, the candidates having to interact socially for a long time. You see another aspect of them, and you see why Trump's doctor is a proctologist--I think there's some kind of stick problem.

Now they are spinning this as "the elites" don't like Trump. WTF do deplorables think a self-proclaimed billionaire is if not elite?

I didn't listen to him though. I can't.

This according to sources in the campaign.

He stumbled through reading it and kept his eyes down.

...and I think he was criticizing a speechwriter and not himself. (Trump rarely criticizes himself.)

when he has been drinking. His words were slurred during his speech at the dinner.

At other times, he sounds like he has been taking heavy duty prescription meds. He stumbles then, too. Maybe he abuses meds, and self medicates. It would fit his personality. He would think he knows more about how to take his meds than the doctors who prescribe them.

It is possible that he has a serious mental health disorder, and his family knows this. They could be covering for him.

Whether it's organic (i.e. dementia) or not I wouldn't hazard to guess at this point.

But yes, by the end of the Al Smith dinner my husband was also saying there's something really wrong with Trump.

It's absolutely terrifying that someone this dangerously insane could manage to get in a position where he could potentially become POTUS.

And it caught up with him while he was onstage. Maybe his med kicked in on top of the booze.

First rule of addiction: protect the supply
Second rule: time your drugs, kiddies, time your drugs.

That doesn't mean he doesn't use and abuse Rx drugs.

Obama said "Whoever gave me my middle name definitely never expected me to run for president." McCain couldn't stop laughing.

Melania might be part of it, working for them like Natasha Fatale from the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon:


KIDDING!!

Trump lacks discipline and he's too self-centered to put himself in the shoes of others.

a normal human being for only 15 to 20 minutes at the most.

He cannot enjoy other people. He has to have t he last word. Trump has to be worshiped and he must feel he is above you. He has big emotional issues.

... the dinner as a Twitter replacement. When Trump TV is in full swing, he'll have his whiner's platform where he can bitch and moan, huff and puff. Come to think of it, he'll still use Twitter to have wars with people who disagree with him. Manbaby just can't help himself.

This isn't politics to him. He's been led down a dark path by Bannon. Donald really believes this garbage. Last night proved that.

My guess he has attention problems. That's why he can start out OK and then goes off the rails. The fact that the "OK" part of the speech isn't really coming from him but is scripted just makes it more difficult for him to stick with it.

Yeah he's got issues!