Dem
47
GOP
53
A few weeks back, Donald Trump went to Walter Reed Medical Center for an "annual physical"—his second one in a 6-month period. And yesterday, while speaking with reporters, he revealed at least part of what took place on that day: an MRI and a cognitive test.
As with everything that comes out of Trump's mouth, particularly everything that comes out of Trump's mouth that is related to his health, there is very little clarity, beyond the fact that the tests took place. Trump bragged about his MRI result, calling it "perfect" and asserting that the doctors said it was the best MRI for someone of his age that they'd ever seen. Certainly, that could be true. That said, Trump always "paraphrases" his doctors' remarks to be as glowing as is possible (when, of course, he's not just writing the reports himself, as with the "healthiest president in history" letter signed by Dr. Harold Bornstein). Oh, and even if Trump's doctors did flatter him in this way, it's worth remembering that he tends to surround himself with medical sycophants (e.g., Bornstein, Ronny Jackson, etc.).
As to the cognitive test, Trump took the opportunity to slur a couple of Democratic members of Congress—Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Jasmine Crockett (D-TX)—claiming that they are "low IQ" and they couldn't pass the test. Probably just a coincidence that he targets Democrats who are women, and people of color, for that kind of remark. Here is what he said about his own result:
Those are really hard, they're really aptitude tests, I guess, in a certain way. But they're cognitive tests. The first couple of questions are easy. A tiger, an elephant, a giraffe, you know. When you get up to about five or six, and then when you get up to 10 and 20 and 25, [Ocasio-Cortez and Crockett] couldn't come close to answering any of those questions.
It appears, from his remarks, that Trump took the same cognitive test he had taken previously, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. He seems to think that this is akin to an IQ test, but it definitely is not. It's meant to judge if someone is impaired; a score of 26 (out of 30) means "not impaired," and none of the questions are intended to be difficult. The questions that Trump claims are difficult include things like "repeat the digits 2 4 8 1 5" in order, and "explain what a banana and an orange have in common" and "tell me what city you are in right now" (that last one is the final question, and ostensibly the "hardest," according to Trump's rubric). Whether he thinks those questions are actually difficult, or he's just using the fact that MAGA folks don't know what's on the test in order to score some cheap political points, we don't know.
The general public is not likely to get an accurate accounting of Trump's results on either of these tests, or on any other tests he might have had. And the general public certainly isn't going to get an accurate answer to, arguably, the most important question of all: Why did Trump have the tests in the first place? Neither an MRI nor a cognitive test are routine parts of an annual physical, much less a person's second physical in 6 months. They are only administered if there is a reason for them. So, what prompted Trump (well, his people) to make the appointment?
We are a little surprised, actually, that Trump shared as much information as he did. Maybe he developed a case of loose lips, as he so often does. Maybe he was pleased enough by the results that he felt the need to do a little peacocking. Either he doesn't realize, or he doesn't care, that announcing "Yep! I had an unexpected MRI! And another cognitive test!" is not a good look, no matter how "well" he did on them. (Z)