President Donald Trump drew fresh attention this week after a Memorial Day speech honoring fallen service members resurfaced online, with critics and supporters alike questioning a verbal slip that left many scratching their heads.

During a solemn ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump honored Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent, a U.S. Navy cryptologic technician who was killed in a 2019 suicide bombing in Syria. But while delivering his tribute, Trump stumbled over the word "cryptologic," instead pronouncing it as "criptolologigic."


The gaffe quickly made the rounds on social media, where users mocked what they called another example of Trump's tendency toward verbal blunders. "What is he rambling about?" one commenter wrote. Another added, "Think he needs a linguist and cryptologist to decipher the word vomit he tried to convey!"

The clip also showed Vice President JD Vance, seated behind Trump, reacting with a visible head turn when the former president struggled with the word. That moment, too, sparked commentary online.

The speech, which began as a tribute to Revolutionary War soldiers at the Battle of Bunker Hill, drifted into politics when Trump criticized the Biden administration's handling of border security. "Those young men could never have known what their sacrifice would mean to us, but we certainly know what we owe to them," Trump said, before adding, "That valor gave us the freest, greatest, and most noble Republic ever to exist on the face of the earth. A republic that I am fixing after a long and hard four years."

The former president's word slip overshadowed his tributes to other fallen soldiers, including Senior Master Sgt. Elroy Harworth, a Vietnam veteran, and Army Ranger Cpl. Ryan McGee, who was killed in Iraq at age 21.

Reactions to the viral clip reflected the nation's political divide. "They laughed at Biden, and look what they got speaking the same language! Karma!" one social media user wrote. Another said, "I thought you had to speak English in America. What the f**k was that?"

Though the speech was intended to honor veterans, it instead reignited debate over Trump's speaking style and ability to stay on message — a familiar theme throughout his political career.

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President Donald Trump