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Trump says doctors were ‘very surprised’ when he ‘aced’ cognitive test

'I took it at Walter Reed Medical Centre in front of doctors and they were very surprised,' the president says

Gino Spocchia,Danielle Zoellner
Friday 10 July 2020 19:33 BST
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Donald Trump says Joe Biden should take cognitive test, but would not pass it not

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Donald Trump has admitted his doctors were “very surprised” when he “aced” a cognitive test at Walter Reed Hospital in an effort to prove his intelligence.

“I actually took one very recently when, you know, the radical left was saying, ‘Is he all there? Is he all there?’ I proved I was all there, because I aced it,” Mr Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in a phone interview on Thursday. “I aced the test.”

He added: “I took it at Walter Reed Medical Centre in front of doctors and they were very surprised. They said, ‘That’s an unbelievable thing. Rarely does anyone do what you just did.’”

The president did not disclose to the Fox News host when or what type of cognitive test he took at the hospital.

In 2018, Mr Trump’s top physician disclosed results from Mr Trump’s Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), in which he obtained a perfect score. That assessment, typically administered to older people, tests patients ability to identify pictures of animals, perform word-recall, and other cognitive functions.

When speaking to Mr Hannity, the president claimed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden could not pass a cognitive test.

Whilst both men could become the oldest president-elect in November, 74-year-old Mr Trump has continued to attack 77-year-old Mr Biden, who admitted to being “constantly tested” last week.

The president’s comments come amid criticism passed between the two septuagenarians, who have challenged each other’s cognitive abilities.

On Thursday night, Mr Trump alleged that Mr Biden was not tested “because he couldn’t pass one”.

“He didn’t mean that because he hasn’t taken any kind of cognitive tests because he couldn’t pass one,” Mr Trump added.

The interview went on with Mr Trump furthering pushing for his competitor to also perform a cognitive test to prove his own mental stability.

“[Mr Biden] should take that same test,” he said.

The Democrat, who had been asked whether or not he was tested for “cognitive decline”, said last week that he could “hardly wait to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man I’m running against.”

The president took to Twitter to boast that Mr Biden could not “ace” the same MOCA administered to the president upon request in 2018.

Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale also taunted Mr Biden and wrote: “ He just said he’s been ‘tested’ and is ‘constantly tested.’ What were the results? Why is he getting constantly tested?”

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