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Does Donald Trump have dementia? Expert points out 4 signs of cognitive decline
Concerns about Donald Trump's health have emerged, with experts suggesting signs of early-stage dementia.
Questions about Donald Trump’s cognitive decline are a widespread topic now, with one mental health expert raising concerns that the 79-year-old U.S. president may be showing signs of early-stage dementia.
Dr. John Gartner, a psychologist and long-time observer of presidential behaviour, during an interview on The Dean Obeidallah Show, suggested that Trump could be battling frontotemporal dementia, a condition that impacts both speech and motor functions.
“When we talk about deterioration from dementia, I was focusing on language because that's the thing we most observe, but also we always see deterioration in motor performance,” he said.
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Expert outlines four concerning signs in Trump
Gartner’s observations aren’t based on just one incident or clip. He highlighted four specific red flags he believes point to deeper issues, per Irish Star Online.
1. Dr. Gartner has noticed Trump slowing down physically over the past few years. One particularly telling detail? The presence of what looked like a catheter tube beneath his right pant leg.
2. Trump’s apparent struggle with stairs has not gone unnoticed.
“We found some of him doing athletic activities in the 80s. I have a film of him playing volleyball, diving to dig the ball and popping up and hitting a high shot, he was very coordinated,” Gartner recalled.
“And now, you know he really does have trouble getting up the stairs, he does trip and fall.”
“I hate to do a gotcha thing, 'Oh he tripped on the stairs,' but no, his gait is slow, he is falling,” he added.
3. Another alarming sign? Trump’s odd walking pattern. Gartner claimed Trump swings his right leg in a semicircular motion.
“The other thing that’s actually even more diagnostic, and I had a neurologist point this out and then several neurologists confirmed it, if you watch the way he walks, he has what they call a leg swing… like it's a dead weight, and he's just kind of swinging it around,” he explained.
“It’s very apparent in some tape and not so much in others, but that right leg swing is considered to be very diagnostic of a specific type of dementia, frontotemporal dementia.”
4. Recently, Trump has been seen favouring his left leg, especially when walking up stairs. A video from Right Side Broadcasting Network caught him relying heavily on his left leg while boarding Air Force One after the NATO summit in the Netherlands.
“That left leg is doing all the heavy lifting. He's really making sure that it's firmly placed,” the caption noted. Other videos online have shown a similar limp or imbalance.
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What does the White House medical unit say?
However, in April, White House doctors declared him in excellent health.
“President Trump exhibits excellent cognitive and physical health and is fully fit to execute the duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State,” wrote Captain Sean Barbabella in an official memo. The POTUS scored a perfect 30 out of 30 in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).
