Trump suggested that Biden “take a cognitive test,” only to mistakenly name the doctor who administered his own cognitive test when he was president.
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donald trump suggested Saturday night that President Joe Biden “should take a cognitive test,” only to confuse who administered the test in the next sentence.
The former president and presumptive Republican candidate referred to Texas Republican Ronny Jackson, who was the White House doctor During part of his presidency, as “Ronny Johnson”. The moment came as Trump questioned Biden’s mental acuity, something he often does on the campaign trail and on social media.
“He doesn’t even know what the word ‘inflation’ means. I think he You should take a cognitive test like I did.“the former president said of Biden during a speech at a ‘Turning Point Action’ convention in Detroit.
Seconds later, he continued: “Doc Ronny Johnson. Does everyone know Ronny Johnson, congressman from Texas? He was the White House doctor, and he said that I was the healthiest president, according to him, in history, so “I liked him very much right away.”
Jackson was elected to Congress in 2021 and is one of Trump’s most vocal defenders on Capitol Hill.
Trump, who turned 78 on Friday, has made the question of whether Biden, 81, eligible for a second term a centerpiece of his campaign. But online critics quickly seized his gaffe Saturday night, with the Biden campaign — which has long fought criticism over the Democratic president’s verbal gaffes — releasing a clip of the moment minutes later.
Trump took the cognitive test in 2018 at his own request, Jackson told reporters at the time. The test is designed to detect early signs of memory loss and other mild cognitive impairments.
What was Trump’s Cognitive Assessment?
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment that Trump underwent includes:
- Remember a list of spoken words
- Listen to a list of random numbers and repeat them backwards
- Name as many words starting, for example, with the letter F as possible in one minute
- Accurately draw a cube
- Describe concrete ways in which two objects – such as a train and a bicycle – are alike
Trump later said he had to remember and accurately recite a list of words in order: “Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.”
During the same speech in Detroit, Trump also referenced a video widely circulated on the Internet in Republican circles in which Biden is seen during the just concluded Group of Seven summit in Italy watching paratroopers land with flags of different nations.
A cropped version of the video shows Biden walking away from the leaders, turning his back on them and walking in another direction.
He gives a thumbs-up gesture, but it’s not clear to whom. However, a more complete angle of the same scene shows that the president has turned to look at a parachutist that has landed.
A press officer from The White House published a fuller version of the video and below the cropped version. The official accused media mogul Rupert Murdoch, owner of the New York Post, of deliberately distorting the truth to support Trump.
However, Trump used the video clip to falsely describe Biden turning around “to look at the trees,” prompting laughter from the crowd.
Biden’s campaign issued a statement calling out the misleading clipping clip and accusing those spreading it of “manipulate the video to invent lies“.
