A “beautiful” beach body and a “mentally disabled” opponent. “One rough hour” of police retaliation to stop criminals. “A million Rambos” in Afghanistan. Haitian immigrants “eating the dogs” and “eating the cats”. Death by electrocution versus death by shark. Insane asylums and, of course, “the late, great Hannibal Lecter”.

These are just a few of the recent remarks made by one of two major candidates for president of the United States. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has spent years saying the unsayable to entertain, goad and grab attention. But his pronouncements over the past few weeks have plumbed new depths of absurdity and incoherence.

Trump, 78, increasingly slurs or stumbles over his words, raising fears over cognitive decline. He is slipping in polls against Kamala Harris and knows that defeat could lead to criminal trials and even prison. After a decade of dominating American politics, critics say, Trump could be in the throes of a final meltdown.

His verbal output now is “absolute batshittery”, according to Tara Setmayer, a former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill. “These are not the musings of a well-adjusted adult. He demonstrates daily how unfit he is to have the most powerful position in the world.”