After calling in to Fox News host Sean Hannity's show on Thursday night, President Donald Trump said doctors were “very surprised” when he recently passed a cognitive test.
“He hasn't taken any cognitive tests because he couldn't pass one,” Trump said of his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden. “I actually took one very recently when the radical left was saying, ‘Is he all there? Is he all there?' I proved I was all there because I aced it. I aced the test, and he [Biden] should take the same exact test. A very standard test.
“I took it at Walter Reed, a medical center, in front of doctors, and they were very surprised,” Trump added. “They said, that's an unbelievable thing. Rarely does anybody do what you just did. But he should take that same test.”
The Washington Post reports: It's unclear exactly what cognitive test Trump was referring to in the interview. The most recent publicly disclosed cognitive test Trump took at Walter Reed was in January 2018, when the White House's top physician said he got a perfect score. The exam Trump took then was the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which is designed to detect mild cognitive issues, largely in older people. The 10-minute exam asks patients to identify farm animals in pictures, draw a clock, and perform basic word-recall exercises. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment clarifying whether Trump has taken another test more recently. Along with jabs at Biden, Trump's latest Hannity interview also covered the Sun Belt coronavirus hotspot, Trump's willingness to wear a mask on an upcoming public appearance, and the Black Lives Matter street mural in New York that Mayor Bill de Blasio helped paint, which Trump derided.
Watch the full interview and check out a few reactions below.
Even if it were true, “the doctors were *very* surprised I passed a cognitive test” is not really the slam dunk the president thinks it is. https://t.co/7hk0LAFxcZ
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) July 10, 2020
I watched this interview tonight live and was shocked that President Trump revealed that he had recently taken a cognitive test at Walter Reed. Wow. We obviously need to know more about that visit. https://t.co/rWvdAItgZ8
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) July 10, 2020
Trump stumbles & spills his Walter Reed trip included a cognitive test. His trip was urgent, prob after he was incoherent & prob included a sequential MRI. He's clueless a/b how bad he sounds w/ “The Doctors were very surprised.” His dementia is obvious & they are carrying him https://t.co/TNXfIHOWn1
— Tom Joseph (@TomJChicago) July 10, 2020
