Trump’s Frontotemporal Dementia and the 2020 State of the Union Address Part 1
Those of us who have been watching Trump’s steady mental and physical decline over the years made a few predictions about the types of things we would see at the State of the Union address this year based on current observations of his public appearances.
In a tweet thread I suggested we will hear his voice sound as if he were sedated, he would choke up on words, exhibit facial dystonia, twist around while gripping the podium, be unable to pronounce a word and try to cover for it, and either already be seated at the podium or would have “human canes” who would do a handshake gauntlet to keep him focused and moving to the destination.
Why would I suggest such a thing? Because Trump exhibits nearly all the symptoms of frontotemporal dementia with progressive supranuclear palsy, and memory, orientation, balance, and gait are negatively affected.
People who have worked closely with Trump have said he doesn’t recognize people and that he doesn’t know where he is or what day or year it is.
“We talk about mental deterioration…I have seen him completely not know where he was what time of day it was in the middle of a sentence. I’ve seen him forget who he’s talking to — somebody familiar — I mean these are indications that there is something neurological going on.”
When left to his own devices, he can aimlessly wander, as seen here in Poland in 2016:
That was in 2016, where he still could walk in a relatively straight line. Maintaining balance while walking and standing has steadily decreased since then. In July of 2019 he couldn’t walk in a straight line unassisted:
There are very few times we see him walk into a room and sit down in a chair these days. Usually he is already seated, they bring the press in and then promptly escort the press out at a certain time. Refer to this cabinet meeting where an aide promptly escorts the press out when Trump’s volume starts rising and his facial dystonia starts kicking in.
One way to mitigate the use of a wheelchair or walker is to lean on someone. Here’s an example of using Melania as a cane to maintain his balance while descending the stairs on Air Force One from December 2, 2019:
Either they would have Trump seated beforehand so no one could see him walk in, or they would use the “human cane” option. It turns out that’s they gimmick they used both on the entrance and exit in order to keep Trump moving without Melania holding his hand to physically support and guide him.
Upon entering, Trump gets distracted by nearly everyone and a man (on the left) and women (in black on the right) guide him by walking in front of him. He appears lost and is drawn to the handshakes and does not seem to be aware of the destination, what his purpose is in being there, nor recognize anyone who shakes his hand.
After his speech, he wanders to the left and claps for himself.
It’s the same deal on the exit; the same two people guide him, with the bald man gesturing to the floor to guide Trump, with some people asking for autographs.
It is quite common for his handlers to do this. Here’s an example from Poland in 2016
The same man verbally directs him, too. He says “You’re going to go up the aisle here.” Trump clearly doesn’t know where he is nor how to exit the chamber, despite the orderly permanent seats and obvious aisles.
More to come, and this page may be edited in the future.
Check out my compilation of documentation of Trump’s decline due to frontotemporal dementia here:
