Donald Trump chatted with Dr. Marc Siegel in a clip played on Tucker Carlson's show on Wednesday night. In this clip, Trump defended his cognitive ability by explaining, in painful detail, the test he allegedly "aced."
Transcript:
If you get it in order, you get extra points. Okay, now is asking other questions, other questions. And then, 10 minutes, 15 minutes later, remember the first question, not the first but the tenth question? Give us that again. And you go person, woman, man, camera, tv. If you get it in order, you get extra points. I said nobody gets it in order. It's actually not that easy but for me it was easy. That is not an easy question.
In other words, they ask you, they give you five names and you have to repeat them and that's okay. If you repeat them out of order, it is okay, but you know, not as good. But then when you go back about 20, 25 minutes later and they say go back to that question and they don't tell you this. Go back to that question and repeat them. Can you do it? Can you go person, woman, man, camera, tv....
Guys. There are no "extra points" on cognitive tests, though there is a section for delayed recall with points attached. But overall, it is a simple test where you identify an animal, draw a clock, recite words, count backwards and recall words beginning with a specific letter. It is given to people who may be showing signs of dementia, Alzheimer's or those who have suffered brain injury or stroke. There is no "acing" the test, because it is a diagnostic tool and nothing more.
Even more alarming - Trump actually says, numerous times, that the test was not that easy. But then he says it was easy for him. This test is not hard, because again, it's designed to detect weaknesses which may be the result of an injury or other harm to the brain..
Twitter reacted:
person, woman, man, camera, TV. pic.twitter.com/wItQLcQd37
— Philippe Reines (@PhilippeReines) July 23, 2020
By "mesmerizing" you mean "Sweet baby Jesus he has the codes to the nuclear arsenal." https://t.co/tR38xNer5p
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 23, 2020
Very stable genius? 🤔 https://t.co/MjXErw96x0
— VoteVets (@votevets) July 23, 2020
It sort of sounds like this test was hard for the president of the United States despite his stable genius status https://t.co/G3WMU3l4mW
— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@MollyJongFast) July 23, 2020
"pers--person person camera, no, person person cameraman, no person person, camerawoman, no, pers--ugh, person person woman cam--person pers--uh, person . . . [sigh]"
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) July 23, 2020
This tweet nails it:
This interview is a demonstration of his cognitive impairment.
— KG (@KevinSixx13) July 23, 2020
Sad. Just sad.
