The president of the United States is arguing with interviewers about how well he did on a test to measure cognitive impairment in Alzheimers’ patients. Really.
He thinks the test was hard and that his score was an accomplishment. If he weren’t such a shitty example of a human being, I’d feel sorry for him.
The point is: he’s an Alzheimer’s patient or suffered a stroke.
updated with better version
These options are not mutually exclusive.
@Dunc:
True. Or they could be trying to diagnose his decline.
Meanwhile, RBG is “not forthcoming” about her cancer.
This is what happens when old people are running a country. Pieces are falling off everywhere.
This is not the kind of test you administer to everyone. This is what you do when you want to check if some basic brain function is working correctly. It’s the equivalent of shining a light in your eye, to check for a concussion. You’re supposed to pass the test. It means your brain isn’t broken. It’s not a friggin’ achievement.
Trump said the last questions were the hard ones. Those are the ones dealing with vocabulary, language abstraction, and memory. That seems to fit what we can see. He can’t remember from one minute to the next, even when he’s the one talking, and his vocabulary is simple, often repeating the same words and stock phrases.
I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt in assuming he didn’t mean the very last bit, where you have to say where you are and what year it is. I don’t think he’s quite that far gone yet.
LykeX@#3:
It’s the equivalent of shining a light in your eye, to check for a concussion. You’re supposed to pass the test. It means your brain isn’t broken.
How many of us have taken a test like that because someone suspected our brains were broken? This whole exercise means that there are apparently serious medical professionals who are wondering if Trump’s brain is broken and how badly.
his vocabulary is simple, often repeating the same words and stock phrases.
One of my dad’s colleagues was aphasic from a stroke, and exhibited the same kind of looping and repeating verbal mannerisms as Trump. In her case, she talked about history and it was interesting. In Trump’s case…
Indeed. The fact that the test was administered at all suggests that there was at least the suspicion of some kind of damage.
Alternative theory (or rather, hypothesis):
Everyone involved is keenly aware that Trump isn’t the brightest bulb and does not respond well to failure or criticism. Hence they opted for one of the easiests tests to avoid upsetting the delicate flower in chief, which could negatively affect their careers and quality of life.
Who wants to become “Doctor Fraud”, who gave Trump a “totally stupid test”, a recurring target of Trump’s rants, when they can just leave that piece of paper on Trump’s desk, have him ace it and perrhaps get through this affair without anyone ever learning of their involvement?
Given the hostile climate Trump creates, actually testing his mental fitness, knowing full well that it probably wouldn’t matter even iff it proved him to be literally brain-dead, would probably be the last thing a forward-thinking human being would want to do. Guessing wildily, said environment is maybe half intentional, half happy by-product of the man’s wonderful personality and his entourage.
komarov@#6:
Everyone involved is keenly aware that Trump isn’t the brightest bulb and does not respond well to failure or criticism. Hence they opted for one of the easiests tests to avoid upsetting the delicate flower in chief, which could negatively affect their careers and quality of life.
Yeah, except you’ve got to work into that scenario the fact that Trump is rather obviously cognitively in decline. If you go back and watch videos of him from 10 years ago, he doesn’t sound like the near-idiot he sounds like, today. So if those people who are trying not to upset the hothead flower (see what I did there?) with hard truths are maneuvering around the hard truths – they are still acknowledging those truths.
Who wants to become “Doctor Fraud”, who gave Trump a “totally stupid test”, a recurring target of Trump’s rants, when they can just leave that piece of paper on Trump’s desk, have him ace it and perrhaps get through this affair without anyone ever learning of their involvement?
Any of many enablers.
Same happened with Reagan. Everyone in the white house knew the guy’s brain was unravelling like a sweater in a blender, but they pretended to the public that he wasn’t a basket case (and in some cases, Nancy came out of her sleepy-drug-addled cloud of “just say ‘no’!” and helped interpret what Dear Ronnie wanted.
Guessing wildily, said environment is maybe half intentional, half happy by-product of the man’s wonderful personality and his entourage.
Yup. So: why did I even post about something so obvious?
Because in 10 years when Trump is dead and everyone comes out and says “the guy was a baked potato by the time 2020 rolled around” I can say “see! I told you so!” We consultants live for that shit.
According to Wikipedia, part of the test is to draw an analog clock.
I wonder how Salvador Dalí would have fared. ;-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Persistence_of_Memory
Jörg@#8:
I wonder how Salvador Dalí would have fared. ;-)
His clock would have had huge hands too.
I also wonder if Trump answered “HA! You guys can’t draw a horse!” on #1.
LOL – I hope I’m supposed to picture you shouting that at the top of your voice as you’re dragged backwards out of a moving airplane, because that’s what I’m doing. xXx!