“It’s a very, very low bar for somebody who carries the nuclear launch codes in their pocket
to pass and certainly nothing to brag about,”
Jonathan Reiner, a cardiologist and professor of medicine and surgery
at the George Washington School of Medicine & Health Sciences
speaking about the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test
Last night in Las Vegas, Trump was again bragging about his self-reported cognitive test score on a test he took in 2020, to great fanfare, telling anyone within ear shot that he “aced it.” Lately, however, his opponents, most notably President Joe Biden and GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, have noted his persistent gaffes that they maintain shows his cognitive decline. To say that he has ever had much cognitive ability at all is a stretch unless one is measuring his world class lying ability and chutzpah. But let’s have a look at his claims about the test, and then lay this foolishness to rest.
Trump’s very boasting about having aced a cognitive test in 2020 demonstrates his lack of . . . well, comprehension: if he understood the nature of the test itself he’d not be bragging about it. The test, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), assists in detecting dementia or cognitive decline, it is not, as he appears to believe, an IQ test. If he had an IQ he’d realize that.
To be clear, below is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment which, as mentioned, is a diagnostic tool used for people who have already shown signs of problems with thinking, memory, or other brain functions. According to the National Library of Medicine, “Cognition includes thinking, learning, remembering, and using judgment and language. Problems with cognition are called ‘cognitive impairment.'”
This is Version 1 of three MoCA tests, the one Trump “aced.”
According to neurologist Dr. Zaid Nasreddine, the person who developed MoCA, a score of 26 or higher (out of 30 point) is considered normal, with the average score being 27. While a perfect score would be an encouraging sign for a person showing some signs of dementia, for a normal person, a high score should be a given. Why? Experts argue that because many people who take the test are already showing signs of possible dementia, people with cognitive problems dominate the sample. As Dr. Nasreddine has explained:
“The reason most people take the test is they or others start noticing mental decline. They forgot where they parked the car, can’t remember what groceries to buy by the time they get to the store. They keep forgetting to take their medication.” [MoCA] “is supposed to be easy for someone who has no cognitive impairment … this is not an IQ test or [a test] of whether a person is extremely skilled or not. The test is supposed to help physicians detect early signs of Alzheimer’s.” (Emphasis added)
“Trump keeps boasting about passing a cognitive test — but it doesn’t mean what he thinks it does,” Washington Post, July 22, 2020
A Savant to Make Lucifer Proud
My take on Donald Trump has for decades been that he’s an idiot savant, generally defined as a person who has an exceptional aptitude in one particular field, such as music or mathematics, despite having significant impairment in other areas of intellectual or social functioning. Individuals with savant syndrome typically have IQs of around 70, below the typical range of 85-115, but with genius-level knowledge in their savant characteristics.
Donald Trump is a perfect exemplar, he has virtually no knowledge of anything outside of his ability to get away with nearly every crooked scheme he’s ever foisted upon others. He’s driven, of course, by galactically large psychological behavior disorders as well, for example, narcissistic psychopathology teamed with a mind having room for little else but criminal schemes. Nonetheless, he’s a savant, with a brain circuitry nearly perfectly honed and tuned for criminal dishonesty; few can marshal the brainpower to lie so successfully, to commit crimes so successfully that even when the public realizes he’s a lying cheat, this man has risen, lie upon lie, to the highest political office in his nation.
Nevertheless, in the face of all his supercharged flaws, he’s a hugely charismatic savant as well. Somehow, despite his narcissistic lack of interest in others’ welfare, he has throughout his life managed to link his bullying nature with success to garner support and, indeed, affection among otherwise normal people, even as many actually hate him. He’s a savant who’d make Lucifer proud. He’s caused tens of millions of people to abandon their own consciences. That’s quite a feat.
And, of Course, He Misrepresents His MoCA Score Because, Well, That’s His Strong Suit
As for his idiotic take on his MoCA score, his narcissism, lying, and utter stupidity are in full stride. Listen to the first one minute and 30 seconds of the (otherwise 14 minute long) video below and experience it yourself. We’ll talk about it on the other side. . .
At the outset, Trump’s has not revealed the numerical score of his MoCA test, so we must rely on his own representation. Recall, though, that the range of scores is 0 – 30 points, with 26 or above considered normal cognitive function. There is no score of “you aced it.” Given Trump’s irresistible urge to lie in every instance we have no way to verify his score. Nonetheless, let’s say Trump’s idea of “aced it” indicates that he was within the 26 – 30 range so that he was not considered a candidate in 2020 for further testing for various kinds of dementia, including Alzheimer’s. (Given his noticeable mental decline lately, though, a retest may be warranted. . .)
His MoCA boasting last night, however, uncovered a preposterous lie about the test itself. Note that the only math problem on the test is a serial sevens test, which requires the subject to count backwards from 100 by 7s. (see MoCA above) This challenge is a mental status test, not as what Trump believes it is, a math IQ test. Here’s how he extravagantly lied about it at his recent Las Vegas rally:
“The press didn’t cover the last question: multiply 4,733 multiply times 7 [then] divide – without paper and pencil, by the way – divide it by 4 [then] add it up another 37.5 points, point 5 – I remember that – and [then] what’s your number? How many people in this room could do it, not too many.”
Trump lying, Las Vegas rally, January 27, 2024
His description of the MoCA question was an outrageous lie. The so-called “trial sevens test” is in no way equivalent to what he represented. What Trump described would have no place on a cognitive ability test, it’s more appropriate to an IQ test, of course. Frankly, even if his description of the math challenge were true, I firmly believe that no one reading this believes that Donald Trump could solve this problem successfully. As for his claim that he did so “without paper and pencil, by the way,” he couldn’t solve that with a calculator, abacus, or a computer. (Nor do I believe he would get very far with the actual challenge, “count backwards from 100 by 7.” He’d run at at 93, perhaps sooner.)
Another attribute Trump often displays, denigrating his audience, came up as well when he asked, “How many people in this room could do it, not too many.” Well, when one understands that he was lying about the test question (which was actually the trial sevens test) then quite possibly very few in his audience could have come up with the answer within the one-minute time frame allowed. But I believe that even a generally undereducated MAGA audience could pass the trial sevens test! But Trump’s need for adulation is so mammoth and his stupidity so severe that he tells an easily fact-checked lie. Of course, his MAGA fans, poor sods, don’t give a damn.
