On Tuesday, President Trump's White House doctor declared that Trump got a Perfect score on his cognitive test and concluded that he does not suffer from any neurological impairment. Now, this is a relief and it means that we can now take the president of the United States at his word. Essentially there is nothing wrong with him so all his questionable actions, rants, repetitive and racist talk is all coming from the mind of a person who knows exactly what he is saying and doing.
The cognitive test
According to White House Physician, Navy Rear Adm.
Ronny L. Jackson, he has no reason to think that Trump has any issues with his thought processes and even though the president was not subjected to a psychological examination, his doctor felt confident enough to diagnose his mental state based on a cognitive test. As far as the navy doctor is concerned, Donald Trump does not suffer from mental issues. It should be noted the test purportedly administered is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment which is a screening test for mild cognitive dysfunction and focuses on memory, language, attention and concentration among other things.
Holding Trump accountable
While there is scepticism in some ranks, Jackson has received high praise for his professional integrity and this is good to know.
If we trust the White House physician's assessment of the president's mental capacity to carry out his duties then everything the president does or says is coming from a conscious, well-functioning mind. So what does that mean? Are the racist remarks he recently made about African countries and Haiti to be accepted as his own thinking?
Is his reported lack of concentration, excessive repetition, 3 AM often incoherent tweets, repeated lies and changing his mind from day to day coming from the mind of a man who knows exactly what he is saying, doing and wants to convey? If so then we now know Donald Trump means what he says, is clear about his thoughts and beliefs and his actions.
As such he is fully accountable for his actions. This is indeed a sobering thought.
Sanity and cognition requires different tests
Critics of Donald Trump have repeatedly questioned his mental stability partly due to his twitter rants which often appear belligerent especially as they relate to North Korea. Michael Wolff's book 'Fire and Fury' raised more concerns about the president's mental state causing Trump to make the claim that he is a very stable genius. Jackson says that it was the president who requested a cognitive test. Of course, we know what happens behind closed doors in any doctor's office often stays there. As a result, we will never know for sure. That being said, we do know that to determine if someone has a mental illness requires a lot more clinical examination than a simple cognitive test and as we know, there were no psychological tests performed.