Activism

A clinical psychologist flagged a sign that President Donald Trump may be experiencing a "serious cognitive problem" during a podcast interview that debuted on Sunday.

Trump has displayed some questionable behavior in recent days, including an instance where he snapped at a reporter on Air Force One and told her, "Be quiet, piggy." The event renewed conversations about Trump's cognitive health.

Dr. John Gartner, an author and former professor at Johns Hopkins University, discussed Trump's mental fitness during an interview with The Daily Beast's Joana Coles on a new episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast."

Gartner noted that Trump has admitted to taking multiple cognitive tests since taking office. Trump appears to be divulging the information to address concerns about his mental state, but Gartner said the admissions reveal a much larger problem.

"They said they did advanced imaging," Gartner said. "Okay, well, Trump said not once, not twice, but three times that he had taken cognitive tests. Plural. Okay, so not just a screening exam...They gave him multiple tests. We do not give people multiple cognitive tests unless we suspect there's a serious cognitive problem."

"We also never, ever...give someone an MRI unless we suspect or need to rule out a serious problem," he continued. "So, we know his doctors gave him multiple cognitive tests and an MRI. They didn't say explicitly because of the brain, but we can certainly be sure they scanned his brain. If they're giving him a neuropsychological battery, they're scanning his brain."

"If Donald Trump were just an ordinary patient and you saw these kinds of serious signs of dementia, a responsible doctor would give him both a neuropsychological battery and an MRI," he added. "Of course, they're not telling us why they gave those tests.
They're not telling us the results."