There was a time when former MAGA Illinois lawmaker Joe Walsh and "Jim Acosta Show" host Jim Acosta may not have seen eye to eye. But on Friday, the two were in full agreement on one subject: what they described as President Donald Trump's rapidly deteriorating health.

The pairing itself says something about how far this conversation has traveled: Walsh, a former one-term Illinois Republican congressman who broke with Trump and became one of his most vocal critics on the right, and Acosta, CNN's former chief White House correspondent who now hosts his own show independently, arrived at the same conclusion from opposite ends of the political media world.

The exchange came during a discussion featured on Walsh's Substack podcast.

Both men cited increasingly visible, unexplained bruises on the president's face and hands, and argued that his debilitation is evident in the way he carries himself and stands — and in the chaotic mix of foul language and inarticulate remarks he has been spouting. Neither host pointed to any medical documentation for these characterizations; their remarks are personal assessments of the president's publicly visible behavior and statements.

Walsh said Trump's rambling extends beyond the racist bigotry the president unleashes at rallies against brown and non-Christian Democrats. That, he argued, is actually sound tactics for Republicans.

"Look, I come from the right and I used to engage in some of that [racist garbage] because that kind of bigoted, fearful [stuff] excites the Republican Party base," Walsh said. "And it's horrible to say that, but I know that for a fact. And that's what Trump is doing. That's all he's got left right now is to scare the hell out of his voters that brown and Black people, Muslims, are taking over America. Most Americans are going to reject that, but it's all about him getting his base out, and they still are drawn to that stuff."

The two were quicker to point out Trump's fascination with fabricated facts and with men's rear ends.

"He's spent a lot of time thinking about what other dudes look like. And, you know, not that there's anything wrong with that, but weird," said Acosta. "Weird, weird, weird."

"You, Jim Acosta, are much better than I at laughing at how [stinking] insane he is," Walsh chided. "I have always had a hard time laughing at Trump because what he does so [infuriates] me. But I listen to a clip like that, and all I can think of is the 25th Amendment. I mean, I don't think we realize he is losing his mind day by day. Every day."

The amendment Walsh invoked, ratified in 1967, allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to transmit a written declaration to Congress that the president is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office" — a mechanism whose involuntary-removal process has never been invoked against a sitting president.

"No, it's so true. And I mean, you know, he's talking about how his hand hurts. I don't know what he's doing. Maybe that explains the bruises," Acosta quipped.

Acosta also pointed to Trump's countless vanity projects around Washington, D.C., which he referred to as "insanity projects."

"The way he obsesses over this golf course in D.C., it's exactly what you're saying, Joe. These are sort of like the ramblings of somebody who just ... They just need to not be in charge of the country and in charge of the nuclear codes," said Acosta. "... The President of the United States should not be focused and obsessed with a golf course. It's totally nuts."

Walsh argued that this is where Trump's second term differs from his first.

"In that first term, the one constant in Trump's life — the only thing he cares about — is Trump," he said. "But if the economy wasn't doing well, he at least gave the appearance that he cared about that. But this term, he doesn't give a f—— about anything. And again, to me, this goes back to what's going on in his head. I think he's so insecure that he's desperate to have his name everywhere when he leaves. But I don't think he's capable of caring about gas prices, diesel prices, the price of beef, the slowing down of wage growth in this country. I don't think he cares, Jim, whether Republicans keep the House or the Senate. All he cares about is him, his money, and his … name."

In their view, Trump's condition has now progressed so far that neither Acosta nor Walsh was sure whether he was still capable of policing his own actions.

"We don't fully know what he's going to do in these next 15 days," Walsh said. "The truth is the current president of the United States is actively trying to sabotage another American election. He just sent threatening letters to some 20,000 California voters that they believe erroneously are non-citizens. He's doing this all over the place to try to intimidate and keep people from voting."

Walsh was also referring to Trump ordering his Justice Department to preemptively target Alaskan elections if Republicans lose.

By Walsh's own timeline — "these next 15 days" — the items he and Acosta told listeners to watch are concrete: the letters sent to roughly 20,000 California voters, the Justice Department's reported preemptive posture toward Alaska's elections, and the president's public appearances, which were the sole basis the two hosts offered for their assessment.

Source: Alternet