President Donald Trump’s physician said Tuesday that he had “no concerns” about the President’s mental acuity and had not planned to perform a cognitive exam on him — until Trump asked him for one.
“The reason that we did the cognitive assessment is, plain and simple, because the President asked me to do it,” Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, MD told members of the media.
The topic of Trump’s mental stability returned to headlines after publication of the book “Fire and Fury,” in which author Michael Wolff reported that Trump’s inner circle had concerns about his mental stability.
Trump responded by claiming to be a “very stable genius.” Many weren’t convinced.
Dr. Jackson said he’d never doubted Trump’s mental fitness.
“I didn’t think it was indicated and I didn’t think we should do it,” he said, referring to the cognitive assessment Trump had requested and citing his day-to-day interactions with the President since January of last year.
He described the cognitive assessment he gave Trump as “one of the ones that was a little bit more involved, it was longer, it was the more difficult one of all of them.”
“It took significantly longer to complete but the President did exceedingly well on it,” Jackson said. He specified separately that he’d used the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.
This post has been updated.
They’re playing the conference live on WaPo.
Doctor seems to be actually answering questions (and not being an ass about it).
I can’t wait for the articles summarizing this. It’s going fast.
He talked about cognitive assessment tests that he ran (at the president’s request according to him). He says that he sees and talks to the president all the time (and has never heard him repeating himself).
(President got a 30 out of 30 on cognitive test…hmm)
He is recommending diet changes and exercise towards weight loss.
And the Dr. may have just done a major overreach, predicting he will be healthy through this term (and another term).
If you compare old clips of Trump speaking with his current statements and interviews, he does seem less coherent. Perhaps this is not something captured on the doctor’s cognitive assessments. At any rate, the assessments themselves are relatively unimportant. What matters is what Trumps says and does. And what he says and does is awful.
He reminds me more and more of kim jong-il towards the end:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/archive/news/from-fashion-icon-to-golf-pro-mind-boggling-facts-about-kim-jong-il/news-story/05f6cbe559109804856e1a91e5b00ab0
Just out of curiosity – does this doctor look anything like John Barron?
Sample question -
Dr: Mr. President - What color is the white coat I am wearing?
T: The white coat?
Dr: Yes the white coat.
T: White