Donald Trump Mocked by Critics for Not Remembering Marco Rubio Is Right Next to Him at Press Conference: Watch

President Donald Trump was mercilessly mocked after a viral moment during a panel at the United Nations General Assembly, as he didn’t seem to realize that Secretary of State and newly named National Security Adviser Marco Rubio was sitting right next to him when he asked where he was.

During the event, Trump publicly thanked Rubio, stating, “I'd like to thank the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. Where's Marco? He’s never very far away.”

However, Rubio sat directly next to Trump on his right. Rubio had to awkwardly point to himself to show he was right there, prompting laughter in the room and sparking a wave of Marco Polo jokes and criticism across social media about Trump's awareness.

“Well, he is Little Marco,” quipped one commenter, nodding to Trump’s nickname for him during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“A literal dementia patient is running the country. This is embarrassing,” said another.

“That’s the same guy with nuclear codes trying to win a war in Iran. Do you think Trump is going to be able to resolve the gas, food, and housing affordability crisis when he doesn’t even know who is a foot away from him?” wondered a third critic.

“Marco looks like he wants out,” observed someone else about the multitasking former Florida senator.

Rubio is attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as both the U.S. Secretary of State and the newly appointed, full-time National Security Adviser under the Trump administration. He is the first person to hold both titles simultaneously since Henry Kissinger in the 1970s.

The president’s most recent slip-up adds to growing speculation of his failing cognitive abilities.

A rambling, mid-September address at a White House Rose Garden dinner drew fresh attention. Critics maintain his speech patterns show growing "cognitive struggles," including an inability to stay on topic, repeating old anecdotes, or making mathematically impossible claims.

An updated public statement from a group of mental health professionals — and an earlier open letter signed by 36 physicians entered into the congressional record — claimed to observe a "marked deterioration in cognitive functioning" in the 80-year-old POTUS.

They pointed toward symptoms like phonemic paraphasia (mixing up words or syllables), apparent daytime somnolence (falling asleep during public or internal meetings) and severely impaired impulse control.

The ongoing back-and-forth has deeply impacted public perception. A recent Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos Poll indicated that roughly 59 percent of voters believe the White House lacks clarity about the president’s medical status, and that a majority are concerned about whether he has the mental and physical capacity to serve out his full term.