Stupid Old Trump He's Demented For Sure.

 

Dementia (1): In January 2018 seventy-five health professionals and
para-professionals (including 8 physicians) signed a letter to Trump's
physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, stating their concern that the president had
dementia 5. They urged Jackson to administer the "Montreal Cognitive
Assessment" test to Trump. 
    The White House had earlier declared that a cognitive assessment would
    not be part of Trump's upcoming medical examination that month 6, but
    Jackson apparently heeded the letter (kudos to him) and administered
    precisely the test urged. Trump got a perfect score 7, after which the
    leaders behind the original letter declared that was insufficient to
    rule out pre-dementia 8. (Which raises the question: Why did they urge
    so inadequate a tool as the Montreal test?) Jackson afterwards
    answered extensive press queries about the test and about Trump's
    mental abilities 9. 

Dementia (2): The clear change in Trump's speaking pattern over the last
30+ years 10 -- simpler words, simpler sentences -- has also been taken as
a sign of brain degeneration. However, it is not possible to ascribe the
change to brain disease without first ruling out the more likely reason
that the simpler words and cadences are politically effective 11. Indeed,
linguistic analysis of 21,739 of his tweets over 10 years supports this,
showing that, in that medium, Trump has 4 language styles that shift
systematically depending on his communication goals 12 13. 
    Trump's language is also remarkable for its slipperiness. Sentences,
    or more often, sentence fragments, are hedged, qualified, blurred,
    and, especially, ascribed to nameless third parties. His interview
    with Dr. Oz is an excellent example 15, and he was able to deliver it
    off the cuff. This speech pattern, so fluid as it emanates from Trump,
    can seem like twisted genius because the rest of us would have had to
    labor hard to draft answers sounding as natural, helpful, and easily
    digested as his, but so lacking in certainties. In reality, it is more
    likely that Trump's years of business dealings have made him
    well-practiced in such haranguing speech. 

Dementia (3): For Trump in 2019 Dr. Zebra does not entertain the diagnosis
of dementia of the Alzheimer type, the hallmark of which is declining
memory for recent events. Whatever one may say about Trump's mental state,
it is quite clear from even his brief interactions with the press that his
memory for events of the day is excellent. Continuing the outside scrutiny
of Trump's mental faculties is completely valid 16, as is urging his
physicians' attentiveness to it, but such scrutiny must consider both the
denominator and the numerator, i.e. what the President does well, not just
his flubs.