As Donald Trump continues to make seemingly confused statements in his speeches, a leading psychiatrist has claimed that there is "overwhelming" evidence the former president is suffering from dementia. Dr. Lance Dodes, a supervising analyst emeritus of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and retired Harvard Medical School professor, has raised serious concerns about Trump's mental fitness, citing instances where the ex-president appears to mix up reality.
"Unlike normal aging, which is characterized by forgetting names or words, Trump repeatedly shows something very different: confusion about reality," Dr. Dodes said in a statement, referring to Trump's recent gaffe where he confused former President Barack Obama with current President Joe Biden. He added that if Trump were to become president again, "he would have to be immediately removed from office via the 25th Amendment as dangerously unable to fulfill the responsibilities of office."
Dr. Dodes is not alone in his assessment. New York psychologist Suzanne Lachmann echoed the concerns, stating that Trump "seemingly forget[s] how the sentence began and invent[s] something in the middle," resulting in "an incomprehensible word salad." Lachmann noted that this behavior is frequently observed in patients with dementia.
The question of Trump's mental fitness has been a recurring theme throughout his political career. In mid-March, the businessman himself admitted to having difficulty reading off a teleprompter during a rally, saying, "I can't read this d--- teleprompter. It's like reading a moving flag and then they'll say Trump's a bad guy, but I'll say this, Don't pay the teleprompter company."
Trump's recent mistakes, such as referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin as "Poten" and confusing Obama with Biden, have not gone unnoticed. Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump administration official, expressed her concern about the ex-president's mental acuity, stating, "He is not as sharp as he was in 2016 and not even as sharp as he was in 2020."
Despite the growing concerns, Trump has dismissed the notion that his mental faculties are in decline. In response to his Republican rival Nikki Haley's suggestion that his age might be affecting his cognition, Trump boasted, "I think I'm a lot sharper than her. I would do this: I would sit down right now and take an aptitude test, and it would be my result against her result. And she's not gonna win. Not going to even come close to winning."
However, mental health professionals remain unconvinced. John Gartner, a psychologist and former professor at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, authored a petition arguing that Trump is "showing unmistakable signs strongly suggesting dementia." Gartner wrote that the former president exhibited "progressive deterioration in memory, thinking, ability to use language, behavior, and both gross and fine motor skills," adding that he felt "an ethical obligation to warn the public, and urge the media to cover this national emergency."
Jason Miller, a senior advisor to the Trump campaign, defended the former president, telling Newsweek, "Joe Biden is clearly suffering from cognitive decline and couldn't answer the first five questions of a cognitive test or any other test for that matter. President Trump has aced this test twice and is willing to take a third test if Joe Biden sits in the same room and takes it at the same time. In fact, President Trump believes all presidents should take the test."
As the 2024 presidential election approaches, the mental fitness of both Trump and his likely rival, President Biden, will continue to be a topic of discussion. Critics on both sides have raised concerns about the candidates' ages and potential cognitive issues, with Trump set to turn 78 in June and Biden, already the oldest U.S. president in history, turning 82 weeks after election day.
While both Trump and Biden have received relatively clean bills of health from their respective physicians, the ongoing speculation about their mental acuity is likely to intensify as the campaign season progresses. As mental health professionals continue to voice their concerns, the American public will be left to weigh the evidence and decide for themselves which candidate is best suited to lead the nation for the next four years.
