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Why can't Trump pronounce Yosemite? Internet says diminished vocabulary ‘proof of cognitive decline’

He stumbled over Yoh-sem-it-ee, pronouncing it YO-se-might and then adding a syllable, 'YO-se-min-NIGHT'

On Tuesday, August 4, President Trump signed into law a legislation that will allocate nearly $3 billion annually to conservation projects, outdoor recreation and maintenance of public lands and national parks. But once again Trump drew widespread mockery online after he mispronounced the word 'Yosemite' at the event. 

"When young Americans experience the breathtaking beauty of the Grand Canyon, when their eyes widen in amazement as Old Faithful bursts into the sky, when they gaze upon Yosemite's — Yosemite's towering sequoias, their love of country grows stronger and they know that every American has truly a duty to preserve this wondrous inheritance," Trump said.

But he stumbled over Yoh-sem-it-ee, pronouncing it YO-se-might and then adding a syllable, 'YO-se-min-NIGHT'. The official White House transcript was released after the event notes with the misspelling. His pronunciation left a lot to be desired, as it sounded more like “Yo, Semites.”

Soon, the Internet started trolling Trump for the same, one Internet user said, "Trump’s inability to pronounce simple English words (Yosemite) is virtual proof of his organic cognitive decline. He didn’t evidence this problem before. He has deteriorated. Add his diminished vocabulary, reasoning, problems with balance and gait, etc." Soon a supposed Trump supporter replied to this tweet, saying, "Trump had never heard of Yosemite.. he's not the outdoor type. No excuse for a president, but it could be the reason he was unfamiliar with the word. Or he could just be losing it."

More than 4 million people a year, and many former US presidents, including Barack Obama, Franklin Roosevelt, John F Kennedy, and William Howard Taft have visited Yosemite National Park, which was first set aside for protection in 1864 by Republican Abraham Lincoln. Trump has not.

Another user replied to the tweet saying, "You can’t sound out Yosemite, and sight-reading is outside his skill set. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there’s plenty of bad stuff wrong with him, but I think this is just his illiteracy showing."
 

Making fun of his pronunciation. another user said, "I would pay good $$ to write a script for him & have it slipped to him to read live in front of cameras, in which I’d include the words “ubiquitous, onus, achilles’ heel, charcuterie, prosciutto, paradigm, tutelage, caricature, equestrian dressage, blasphemy, foliage, ampersand," while another user jokingly said, "My roommate @NealFAllen kept replaying Trump saying, “Yo! Semites!” for Yosemite. The first few times he played it, I thought Trump was making a pitch for Semitism, and that while it was stranger and loftier than usual, it must be part of the campaign’s re-set."

It is not the first time when Trump has pronounced something wrong, his pronunciation of locations in the United States has drawn scrutiny. In his 2016 campaign, Trump made a big show after telling Nevada residents how to pronounce their state's name. Trump said, "Heroin overdoses are surging and meth overdoses in Neh-VAH-da," Trump said. "Neh-VAH-da... When I came out here, I said, nobody says it the other way. It has to be Neh-VAH-da, right?"  Recently, people also noticed him pronouncing Oregon wrong. Trump in a speech, pronounced the word as Ore-uh-GONE when more Oregonians pronounce it as ORE-uh-gin.