Creator of cognition test Trump brags of acing says it's 'supposed to be easy' for unimpaired people
President Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity earlier in July that he "aced" a cognitive test at Walter Reed Medical Center "very recently," and Fox News anchor Chris Wallace did not seem overly impressed when Trump brought up the test again during his Fox News Sunday interview over the weekend. Wallace said he also took the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test after Trump said he passed it, and "it's not the hardest test. It shows a picture and it says, 'what's that,' and it's an elephant."
"It's all misrepresentation, because yes, the first few questions are easy, but I'll bet you couldn't even answer the last five questions," Trump responded. "They get very hard, the last five questions. ... You couldn't answer many of the questions."
Dr. Ziad Nasreddine, who developed the MoCA test in 1996, told MarketWatch on Monday everyone is misrepresenting the test. "This is not an IQ test or the level of how a person is extremely skilled or not," he said. "The test is supposed to help physicians detect early signs of Alzheimer's." Certified doctors have to examine the test results, and not everyone who does poorly has early onset dementia, he added. If doctors have concerns, they typically ask the subject to take the test again in two months, or run other physical tests.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The MoCA test is "supposed to be easy for someone who has no cognitive impairment," Nasreddine told MarketWatch. "The purpose is to detect impairment; it's not meant to determine if someone has extremely high levels of abilities." However, he added, with Trump 74 and Joe Biden 77, concerns that either might have cognitive impairment or dementia "is a pertinent question, and it's not surprising that this is becoming an issue this election."
-
Health insurance: Premiums soar as ACA subsidies endFeature 1.4 million people have dropped coverage
-
Anthropic: AI triggers the ‘SaaSpocalypse’Feature A grim reaper for software services?
-
NIH director Bhattacharya tapped as acting CDC headSpeed Read Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of the CDC’s Covid-19 response, will now lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
NIH director Bhattacharya tapped as acting CDC head
Speed Read Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of the CDC’s Covid-19 response, will now lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
