Trump jokes Biden was ‘high as a kite’ during Michigan speech: ‘He was spruced up pretty good’

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Trump mocked former US president Joe Biden’s energy levels at the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday, January 13. The president joked that his predecessor once appeared "high as a kite" during a speech.

Trump joked with the audience about Biden’s frequent coughing before his talks, even making loud grunting sounds to mock him, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Trump jokes and mimics Biden during Detroit speech

During his talk in Detroit on Tuesday, January 13, Trump adopted a stand-up comedy style as he mocked the way  Biden speaks and the former president’s dependence on the teleprompter. 

He told the crowd that Biden usually only gave very short speeches and coughed frequently, even making loud grunting noises to imitate him. 

“You know, when you go up here, you take a big chance," said Trump midway through his speech.

"Especially me because I go off teleprompter about 80% of the time. But isn't it nice to have a president that can go off teleprompter, don't you think?,” he said in a barb directed at his predecessor. 

Trump then went on to say, "Remember the speeches Joe would make? First of all, they'd last a matter of seconds, you know."

Trump said Biden was typically low-energy but there was one occasion when he appeared unusually energetic.

“It would be very short —although the one time they had him spruced up pretty good, remember? He was "high as a kite,” Trump said while looking up at the sky. 

He joked, looking at the sky, that Biden was “floatin’ he was up there, way up.” 

Although Trump called it a “bad speech,” he gave Biden a little credit for “getting through it” before quickly switching to complain about the millions of people he says entered the country illegally under Biden.

Trump slams Rand Paul and backs Mike Rogers in speech

The president did not limit his criticism to Democrats, also targeting members of his own party. He called Senator Rand Paul a “stone-cold loser” and claimed Paul only won his elections because of Trump’s support.

Trump then praised Mike Rogers, who is running for the Senate in Michigan, claiming that Rogers’ previous election was stolen from him.

“I’ll be honest with you, Mike. They rigged the election on you. Mine was too big to rig. You won, I’m telling you, you won, but you’re going to do great this time. He’s a great guy, actually.

‘He’s going to be an amazing senator. Thank you. Thank you for being here with me,” Trump said.

Trump also insisted that even though he won Michigan on the same ballot, the Senate race was treated differently.

Trump highlights economic boom and new military rules

During his speech, Trump also touted what he called the “Trump Economic Boom” and said the country has returned to focusing on “merit.”

He claimed that under Biden, the military saw its worst enlistment numbers, but said it is now stronger than ever because of new rules.

“We enlist by merit now. We won a Supreme Court case that said you hire by merit, you go to college by merit. Everything’s by merit. Our country became great because of merit,” he said.

He also bragged about the amount of money being invested in the United States compared with when Biden was in office.

“In four years under Biden, they secured less than $1 trillion in new investment in the United States. In less than one year, I have secured commitments of more than $18 trillion from all over the world,” Trump said.