Donald Trump has boasted about his “extreme intelligence” after taking a cognitive test during his latest routine physical examination – the only problem is that the test doesn’t even assess intelligence, ironically
Donald Trump claimed his latest cognitive test results showed he had “extreme intelligence”, except the exam doesn’t test for intelligence.
The US President said he scored a perfect 30 out of 30 in the cognitive test earlier this week, as part of his routine physical exam. It’s the fourth time he’s taken the test, and he claimed he scored perfect each and every time he’s taken it.
Trump, who turns 80 next month, took a series of physical and mental tests at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The physician, Captain Sean Barbabella, said the president took the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and scored “within normal limits”, a White House memo revealed.
Earlier this morning, Trump posted on his Truth Social claiming it was very rare for anyone to achieve a perfect score in the test. It was even a sign of “extreme intelligence”, he claimed.
He wrote: “The results of my Physical Examination, taken at Walter Reed Military Medical Center, and just released, were extremely good. Unlike other U.S. Presidents, none of whom have ever taken an approved, high difficulty, Cognitive Test, I scored a perfect 30 out of 30, considered ‘extreme intelligence’.
“Are the Dumocrats really surprised? In fact, this is my fourth such test, all PERFECT or, 120 correct answers out of 120 questions asked! It is very rare that anyone gets a Perfect Score, especially when achieved four times in a row. All people running for President and Vice President should be forced to take high difficulty Cognitive Tests. Congress, and the Dumocrats, should demand it! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
The only problem is that the MoCA test doesn’t assess intelligence at all. It’s used to detect early signs of dementia, and isn’t an IQ test.
Dr Ziad Nasreddine, who helped to develop the assessment and leads the MoCA clinic, told MedPage Today: “The MoCA was not developed as an IQ test. Although IQ scores and MoCA scores are correlated, the MoCA was developed to detect subtle cognitive issues and was not meant to measure intellectual skills or IQ.”
The test is scored out of 30, and assesses concentration, attention, calculation, language, memory, and orientation. Anything over 26 is generally considered normal cognitive performance.
It includes takes like naming the pictures of certain animals, repeating lists of words, and drawing clocks. It’s a relatively quick test that helps doctors to get a very early indication of Alzheimer’s disease.
Meanwhile, a year into Trump’s second term, the president is showing visible signs of ageing, including bruising on his hands and swollen legs. The physician said the bruising was likely caused by “minor soft tissue irritation related to frequent handshaking in the setting of aspirin use for cardiovascular prevention”.