Two psychologists have raised fresh alarm over Donald Trump’s health, claiming the 79-year-old is exhibiting a “telltale sign” of a rare brain condition that they believe is getting “worse and worse.”
Psychologists raise the red flagClinical psychologists Dr John Gartner and Dr Harry Segal, speaking on their Shrinking Trump podcast, said Trump’s psychomotor performance is deteriorating, pointing to recent public appearances as evidence.
“Some of the more evidence that we’ve been talking about recently has been his psychomotor performance,” Dr Gartner explained. “We’re seeing a deterioration in his motor performance, which also goes with dementia because with dementia there’s a deterioration of all faculties, all functions.”
He added, “The language and the verbal dysfunction is what we notice first and also what we notice in terms of his public behavior, but now his motor performance is starting to get worse and worse.”
The rare dementia theoryDr Gartner went further, suggesting Trump may be showing signs of frontotemporal dementia — a rare form of the disease that impairs behaviour and language. It affects the brain’s frontal and lateral regions, typically progressing slowly over years.
“One of the things that one of the neuropsychologists we worked with last year pointed out that is almost a dead ringer telltale sign of frontotemporal dementia is something they call a wide-based gait,” he explained. “You kind of swing one of your legs in a semicircle.”
The Putin meeting clipTo illustrate their point, the psychologists analyzed footage from Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month. On the red carpet, Trump appeared to struggle walking in a straight line.
“He’s weaving all along the carpet,” Dr Gartner observed. “His right foot is swinging and it’s pushing him to the left. So, as it’s swinging, he’s veering left and then he overcorrects and moves to the other side of the carpet and then it happens again.
“I mean, if they pulled you over for a DUI and you walked that line, you would fail.”
Dr Segal agreed, noting: “It’s very odd, isn’t it? Because it doesn’t look like someone who’s drunk, but he’s drifting back and forth as if he can’t control one of his legs.”
They also slowed down another clip, showing what Dr Gartner described as “step after step after step” of his leg swinging sideways before overcorrecting.
Trump hits back with health boastDespite these claims, Trump insists his health is “excellent.” After his annual physical in April, he told reporters that he “got the highest mark” on a cognitive test. His White House physician, Dr Barbabella, backed that statement, declaring Trump “fully fit to execute the duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State.”
“Overall, I felt I was in very good shape,” Trump said. “A good heart, a good soul, a very good soul.”
'Dead ringer sign': Trump boasts ‘highest mark’ on cognitive test — but psychologists point to red-carpet stumble as warning of brain decline
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