Donald Trump’s boast about his cognitive skills seemingly backfired at his own town hall event Sunday as he made an awkward mistake about former ESPN host Sage Steele.
Steele, who left ESPN last year after settling a lawsuit with the network, was set to moderate the event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania before the former president headed to the Pittsburgh Steelers game.
However, the Republican candidate appeared to confuse the former SportsCenter anchor confused with someone else as he called her the wrong name.
‘Let’s have a little fun, Paige,’ Trump said right as his live town hall was set to begin. The Harris campaign immediately blasted out the clip.
Trump suffered another gaffe when he claimed he heard someone say St. Louis Cardinals great Stan Musial was in the audience.
Donald Trump called town hall moderator and former ESPN host Sage Steele the wrong name
Steele moderated the former president’s town hall event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Sunday
Musial died more than a decade ago, and it was Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Meuser who was being referenced. Trump brought Meuser on stage after clearing up the situation.
Steele brushed off the hiccup, failing to acknowledge the 78-year-old’s error before launching into her questioning with a ‘Here we go!’
During the rally-style town hall, Trump, who has repeatedly attacked his opponent Kamala Harris’s IQ, insistently vouched for his own cognitive ability.
‘I have no cognitive – she may have a cognitive problem. But there’s no cognitive problem,’ Trump told Steele, who asked him friendly questions at a town hall in central Pennsylvania organized by the Trump campaign.
‘And I actually call for a cognitive test for all people wanting to run for president. Not based on age. Some of the greatest leaders in the world – and I’m not 80 and I’m not that close to 80,’ Trump explained.
‘In the Biden case, he’s 81 or 82.’
Steele’s appearance at the town hall came as little surprise after her conservative views were laid bare in recent years.
Steele was suspended by ESPN in October of 2021 after she made comments about former President Barack Obama and the Covid-19 vaccine.
The former anchor brushed off the hiccup, failing to acknowledge the 78-year-old’s error
In an interview on Jay Cutler’s podcast, she dismissed Covid-19 vaccine mandates, criticized women who dress provocatively, and took issue with Obama’s claims that he’s African American.
‘I think that’s fascinating considering his black dad was nowhere to be found but his white mom and grandma raised him. But hey, you do you, I’m going to do me,’ she said regarding the former president.
Steele sued the network in April of 2022 after claiming that ESPN violated her First Amendment rights and Connecticut free-speech laws by suspending her over comments.
Steele and the media giant settled last year but terms of the settlement have not been revealed. Front Office Sports previously reported that Steele was offered $501,000 by the network to drop her lawsuit.
More recently, Steele has taken issue with trans women in sports.
In March, Steele slammed the decision to allow transgender athletes to compete in the women’s division of USA Powerlifting after the sports body lost a four-year discrimination case brought by a trans lifter.
Steele said the decision is ‘unfair to women’ and pointed to how it was ‘ironic’ that it was made during Women’s History Month, which began on March 1.
Steele has claimed during her time at ESPN the network asked her not to talk about transgender swimmer Lia Thomas .
Steele left ESPN in August 2023 following 16 years with the sports media giant
She announced she was parting ways with the company to express her opinions more freely
Earlier this month, she hit the campaign trail alongside Danica Patrick – the racing driver who revealed she intends to vote for Trump in November in what will mark the first time she has ever cast a ballot.
Patrick and Steele were pictured together wearing pink ‘Women for Trump’ shirts while making political stops in Georgia.
The sports pair also snapped photos with Lara Trump, Tulsi Gabbard , and others in between campaign events at a local donut shop.
The Trump campaign also shared a video of the group singing along to Taylor Swift’s hit ’22’ before changing the lyrics to, ‘I don’t know about you but I’m voting Donald Trump.’
Swift publicly endorsed Harris in a lengthy Instagram statement following last month’s presidential debate.
Steele, Tulsi Gabbard, Danica Patrick, and Lara Trump pose for a photo in Georgia
Steele, Patrick, and others hit the campaign trail in support of former President Trump
Trump’s Steele mix-up came a day after he regaled his supporters in Latrobe with an intimate story about golf legend Arnold Palmer.
He made a lewd joke about Palmer’s manhood at a rally at Latrobe airport, which is now named after the seven-time major winner, who grew up in the Pennsylvania town.
‘When he took showers with the other pros they came out saying ‘Oh my God.’ I had to say it… I had to tell you the shower part because it’s true,’ the 78-year-old said.
Trump went on to spin the story of Palmer’s early life, describing how the talented young golfer grew into a wealthy champion who bought the local golf club and put his father in charge.