Simple test that Trump the ‘genius’ passed with full marks
ONE has a mane, another has a hump and the last has a pointy thing on its head.
But telling the difference between a lion, a camel and rhinoceros is apparently quite a challenge, forming part of test taken by Donald Trump to show he had not lost his mental faculties.
The US President, who has claimed he is a ‘stable genius’, scored 30 out of 30 on the medical test of his mental abilities he took last week.
The assessment he passed with flying colours – known as the Montreal Cognience Assessment – is not a test of genius, however. Rather, it is a tool for doctors to assess whether someone has dementia.
The test is also said to be able to detect signs of brain impairment from conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and brain damage from suffering a stroke.
Taking it appears to be an attempt by the White House to silence those who suggest Mr Trump was mentally impaired.
The 71-year-old President has claimed his critics have tried to make an issue of his ‘mental stability and intelligence’.
Many of the criticisms stem from the book The Fire And The Fury: Inside The Trump White House by the journalist Michael Wolff.
It alleges that White House insiders had concerns over the mental health of the president.
While President Trump aced the test with top marks, the average score for adults is 27.5.
Dr Ronny Jackson, the presidential physician, said of the test: ‘Many of you may have picked up on the fact that we did do a cogni- tive assessment. I didn’t feel it was clinically indicated. It has been my experience that the president is very sharp and he’s very articulate when he speaks to me.’
He added that if there was any ‘type of mental, cognitive issue’ the test would have picked it up.
Dr Jackson added: ‘He would not have gotten 30 out of 30 on the test. So I’m very confident at this particular stage that he has nothing like that going on.’ Mr Trump has appeared to slur his words, adding to concerns about his health. Dr Jackson said he’d ruled out a list of possible causes, and that dry mouth caused by the over-the-counter decongestant Sudafed was likely to blame.
The test undertaken by the leader of the free world was devised in Canada in 1996.
Designed to last ten minutes, it assesses concentration, attention, memory, language, calculations, verbal fluency, and visual skills.
A variety of questions include being asked to give the correct name of three animals from line drawings – the animals being a lion, camel and a rhino.
Other questions include asking the subject to draw a clock showing the time at ten past 11, and memorising five words before reciting them after five minutes.
Alzheimer’s patients often have trouble drawing or naming objects, and the test can indicate problems with short-term memory.
Spatial skills also deteriorate with mild cognitive impairment and dementia, as does attention.
Dr Ranit Mishori, professor of family medicine at Georgetown University, said: ‘It’s pretty sensitive in picking up subtle changes in cognition – things involving memory, attention and language.’
Mr Trump’s doctor was accused of tipping the scales in his favour as so-called Girthers demanded proof that he isn’t obese.
Sceptics challenged the insistive
‘Picking up subtle changes’
of Dr Jackson that he weighs 239lb, or 17st 1lb, and is 6ft 3in. It means the president is overweight rather than obese, which he would be if he was a pound heavier or his height was the 6ft 2in as stated on his driving licence. The critics have been dubbed Girthers after Mr Trump’s support for ‘Birthers’ who claimed Barack Obama was born abroad.
Hollywood director James Gunn offered $100,000 (£72,475) to Mr Trump’s favourite charity if he agreed to be weighed by ‘an impartial medical professional’.