# Trump's neurological health - a rational discussion please **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 2, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379 "2019-07-02T03:10:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/61 "2019-07-05T16:21:08Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > In today’s speech he said (supposedly about the revolutionary war): > > "Our army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do, and at Fort McHenry, under the rockets’ red glare, it had nothing but victory.” > > That doesn’t seem to be the output of an entirely healthy mind. The airport and Fort McHenry parts are funny, sure, but does he really think the Continental Army won all of the battles during the Revolutionary War? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/62 "2019-07-05T19:30:16Z")
Dis somebody write the speech for him? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/63 "2019-07-05T19:35:26Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Dis somebody write the speech for him? He is claiming that the rain knocked out the teleprompter at that time, forcing him to wing it. I don’t know if an actual transcript of the speech is available. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/64 "2019-07-05T20:54:15Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > In today’s speech he said (supposedly about the revolutionary war): > > "Our army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do, and at Fort McHenry, under the rockets’ red glare, it had nothing but victory.” > > That doesn’t seem to be the output of an entirely healthy mind. …the man thinks that “ramparts” are literally “the parts that are to be rammed.” We’re doomed. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/65 "2019-07-05T21:41:16Z")
And what about the Continental Army being named for Washington? What was that supposed to be about? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/66 "2019-07-05T21:47:35Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > A LOT of verbal speech – especially “off the cuff” remarks – translates very poorly to the page. Many people have a certain degree of stream-of-consciousness quality to extemporaneous speech that sounds ok when you hear it, but looks downright terrible when you read a transcript. Yeah… I mean, it’s possible the man has a few screws loose. Sometimes I think I hear hints of that. But of all the examples given in this thread, he sounds like he always does… a fifth-grader giving a book report without having read the book, running out the clock by spewing word salad. That kind of verbiage is terrible, and it looks worse when transcribed. But the only disorder it betrays is the attitude that this is acceptable behavior. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/67 "2019-07-05T21:48:16Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > He is claiming that the rain knocked out the teleprompter at that time, forcing him to wing it. I don’t know if an actual transcript of the speech is available. It is an strange excuse. Even if true, then who in a moment of winging it says the Continental Army took over the airports. It really doesn’t make his case any better. One might argue it makes it worse, if he had said the teleprompter had it and he reflexively read it, it would still be funny but much better. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/68 "2019-07-05T21:51:25Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > And what about the Continental Army being named for Washington? What was that supposed to be about? It was almost certainly supposed to be something like Washington being named Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. That sentence construction apparently went completely over Trump’s head, and he changed it to “named for.” ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/69 "2019-07-05T22:07:14Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > He also doesn’t get to pick and choose when he’s going to be interviewed or what the subjects he gets questioned on as much as when he was granting interviews in his 50s. Huh? What do you mean he doesn’t get to pick and choose? Who’s telling the POTUS what to do? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/70 "2019-07-05T22:08:16Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > “Homelessness started two years ago” is something he didn’t say. Fake news; we all heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/71 "2019-07-05T22:10:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > He is claiming that the rain knocked out the teleprompter at that time, forcing him to wing it. I don’t know if an actual transcript of the speech is available. As a stagehand, I can tell you that the likelihood of the teleprompter being knocked out by rain or anything else was about .0001%. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/72 "2019-07-05T22:26:11Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Huh? What do you mean he doesn’t get to pick and choose? Who’s telling the POTUS what to do? :dubious: :dubious: Do you think Trump would do anything besides golf and political rallies if it was only up to him? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/73 "2019-07-05T22:40:49Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > :dubious: > Do you think Trump would do anything besides golf and political rallies if it was only up to him? Yes. I think he already does. I think your insistence that Trump regularly does anything he doesn’t want to because someone else told him to is patently absurd and has no evidence to back it up. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/74 "2019-07-05T22:52:50Z")
People yell questions when he’s getting in a plane or crossing his lawn. He regularly has joint press conferences with foreign heads of state. He gets asked off topic questions when he thinks he’s just doing a fun little publicity stunt. If you think this is all Trump’s choice, rather than requirements of the job, whatever. Not worth arguing about. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/75 "2019-07-06T01:24:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I truly don’t understand why people are claiming not to see this clear deterioration in his demeanor, speech, and affect. If your parent displayed this behavior, you’d pack them off to a neurologist in a New York minute. Yup. My Mom is 90. Oh, she has a bit of short term memory difficulty. So do I. But she speaks clearly and succinctly and has no problem remembering the important stuff and starting a sentence that actually ends in a point. Trump starts with “I” and then winds around lampposts that are clearly out of kerosene and ends with “few people know this”. When I run into elderly folks that do the same, it’s fine to just nod and smile. Not so much when it’s the President of the United States ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/76 "2019-07-06T13:16:07Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > It is an strange excuse. Even if true, then who in a moment of winging it says the Continental Army took over the airports. It really doesn’t make his case any better. One might argue it makes it worse, if he had said the teleprompter had it and he reflexively read it, it would still be funny but much better. I cannot find cites for this airport stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/77 "2019-07-06T13:52:50Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I cannot find cites for this airport stuff. [Here’s the whole speech.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaoX0YkvDNs) See from 38:20 to 39:15 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/78 "2019-07-06T14:26:13Z")
Thanks, Peter Morris. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/79 "2019-07-06T14:28:16Z")
Christ, he did say that airports were captured. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/80 "2019-07-06T15:53:19Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Christ, he did say that airports were captured. His ‘mind’ was probably thinking about the military flyovers. All done for his greatness. And that surely has something to do with airports. So he made that connection, and that’s what snapped out of his mouth. War means airplanes, airplanes mean airports. We had a revolution/war, so airplanes and airports must have been involved. Not that I want to try to figure out what he is ‘thinking’. Doubt that’s possible. There is no thought other than “how can I make myself look good”. Words and policy don’t matter. History, and the future doesn’t matter. Never has to him. He can’t grasp anything but the present, and he has a very, very light hold on that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379.md?page=5)