Dr. Harry Segal and Dr. John Gartner, two clinical psychologists, have openly expressed alarm over Donald Trump’s health in a new edition of their internet show “Shrinking Trump.” They say that the 79-year-old is showing more and more evident signs of dementia. They say that his “psychomotor functioning” is getting worse, which is the link between his cerebral processes and his motor skills.
Dr. Gartner says that Trump’s declining bodily movements are a strong symptom of a larger cognitive decline, combined with his apparent speech problems. He said that people have been talking about Trump’s public behavior and vocabulary for a long time, but now his motor skills are also starting to get worse.
Dr. Gartner thinks that Trump may have frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a less frequent type of dementia that affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. People with FTD often have problems with speech and conduct, and these problems usually get worse over time.
Dr. Gartner quotes a neuropsychologist who says that one of the main “telltale signs” of FTD is a “wide-based gait,” which is a method of walking when a person swings one of their legs in a semicircle. The psychologists displayed a video from a recent meeting in Alaska between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the footage, Trump seemed to have trouble walking straight on a red carpet.
Dr. Gartner said that in the video, Trump is “weaving all along the carpet” and his right foot is pushing him to the left. He then goes too far and moves to the other side of the carpet, where the pattern starts again. Dr. Gartner compared the walk to a failed sobriety test, and Dr. Segal said it was strange because Trump “doesn’t seem to be drunk” but is “pacing back and forth since he’s losing control of one of his legs.”
People are talking about Trump’s health, and the psychologists’ warnings come at a time when there are rumors that he has been trying to hide the back of his hand. Trump has always said that his mental health is great, even if these worries exist. After his yearly medical checkup in April, he bragged that he “got the highest mark” on his cognitive test.