Let’s Not Question Trump’s Cognitive Test Results, and Instead Focus on the Underlying Issue
Does an “excellent” health report change anything?
By Anjali Ramakrishnan
The Progressive Teen Staff Writer
IN CASE you missed it, the President of the United States is in “excellent health.”
No, seriously — his physical health is excellent.
Well, there will be a diet and exercise. Big deal. It’s still excellent.
No, really, so is his mental health. It’s excellent.
Like, really excellent.
Seriously.
It’s excellent.
Based on his mental and physical evaluation, he’s fit for office.
Because, in case you didn’t know, it’s excellent.
If you were watching Dr. Ronny Jackson give a briefing to the press in regards to the President’s health, there should no doubt in your mind that he is sure that the President is in — wait for it — EXCELLENT health.
Dr. Jackson, The White House Physician who also treated President Obama is certainly a respectable and qualified physician, but he didn’t hold back on the praise when it came to the President’s health in what was a nearly hour long press briefing. Though he mentioned he would be working to get the President on a diet and exercise plan, Dr. Jackson concluded that Trump was in excellent physical AND mental health, going as far as saying that he will be fit for office, something Trump critics have been saying the opposite of since he began his run for President.
Typically there is not a mental component of the President’s physical, but the President specifically asked for a cognitive exam in an effort to put rumors to rest, according to Dr. Jackson. He gave the President the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, an exam that is meant to detect mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease, according to its website. This includes elements such as being able to repeat things after hearing them, identifying pictures of animals, knowing how trains and bikes are related, and so on. And, to the surprise of many, Dr. Jackson said that the President got a perfect score.
Particularly after Michael Wolff’s explosive book, many people began to surmise Trump had dementia, short-term memory loss or was showing signs of Alzheimer’s. After the President’s physician told the public that the President successfully passed a cognitive exam, many were shocked and accused him of lying or embellishing.
Let’s be honest — though Dr. Jackson’s gushing was a little much, there’s no point challenging the fact that the President passed a cognitive test. Some complaints against his ability to serve may have been under the guise he had dementia or Alzheimer’s, but that’s not what it’s really about and not what people should be using to criticize his fitness to serve when there’s no medical evidence to that effect.
What is a major problem, however, is his personality and temperament.
Donald Trump’s stubborn attitude is like that of a four year old everytime they don’t get the extra cookie. He can not stand criticism of any kind and must always get the last word, crossing any moral boundry to do so. Kind of like that time he attacked a gold star family on twitter.
Wait, didn’t that happen more than once?
He couldn’t stand the fact that Khizr and Ghazala Khan took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to tell the audience he should not be in the highest office of the world. On a backdrop behind them was a picture of their son, US army Captain Humayun Khan, who sacrificed his life for the country. He tweeted that Khizr didn’t let his wife speak, an obvious jab and racist remark to the fact that they were Muslim.
He couldn’t be quiet when Myesha Johnson, a recent widow to Sgt. La David Johnson who was killed in Niger, said that the President couldn’t even remember her husband’s name, tweeting he very much did remember. Did I mention this is a woman who had just lost her husband, who gave his life to the country?
And of course, he likes to occasionally put our national security risk. After North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un stated he had a nuclear button on his desk of all time, similar to a way that a smug older sibling informs their little brother or sister their cookie is bigger, he tweeted “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!” Just like a sibling with a bigger cookie, besides the fact that, you know, the sibling didn’t have access to nuclear codes and wasn’t challenging one of the world’s most dangerous dictators.
I could continue to list all the instances that Trump’s temperament was out of control, but I frankly don’t know how many years that would take.
But there’s one thing that can clearly be concluded just from three examples, and that’s the fact the President has a wild temperament and can not face any criticism or even slightly unpositive message that has anything to do with him without lashing out. It doesn’t take being a very stable genius to figure out if you are the ultimate authority of what happens in the lives of millions and millions of people, you need to be logical, flexible, respectful, and choose national security over your pride.
The current President is none of these things, but don’t worry, after critics pointed out he had a bad temperament, he assured us that his temperament is one of his best assets.
When it comes to the President’s cognitive test results, there’s no point lashing out over the fact he knew what a lion looked like or that the letter C is the third in the alphabet. And though Dr. Jackson’s briefing made for a funny SNL Cold Open and put himself in the running for biggest praiser of the President (besides Donald Trump, from whom he is a distant second), in the end he is a credible physician who has served in multiple administrations. Focus on the real issue, which is that his terrible temperament endangers our lives and attacks innocent people on a daily basis, and it’s important we condemn this behavior and show others the danger he poses to our country and democracy.
