# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/101 "2019-07-10T00:54:16Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > What we mean is what was said. It isn’t clearly true, because Trump himself did not offer that explanation. When someone is being called to task, their explanation is the one that is relevant. Explanations made up after the fact are just attempts to defend them. They have little relevance. OMG, you’re not actually suggesting that Trump might LIE about something and fail to admit fault, are you?! Egad! > [@BigT](#): > > However, even if we do allow for your explanation, it still doesn’t actually work. It doesn’t explain how, once he was off the teleprompter, he said even dumber things. There is no word that replaced “airports” that would fit, and neither Trump himself nor his speechwriters have offered one. I already told you the word that replaces “airports.” It’s “ramparts.” “Manned the ramparts.” Y’know, as in “o’er the ramparts we watched.” You may have heard that alongside other phrases Trump said, like “the rockets’ red glare” and “their star spangled banner waved.” Sound familiar? Watch the video again. You can hear him say it wrong, stop himself, and try again. “[Our army manned the airpuh…it read the ramparts](https://youtu.be/Db9u9HtXyh8?t=2329)” After that, he’s off track. Watch his hands. His body language says “I don’t know what to say.” Do you really think a professional speechwriter put “it did everything it had to do” in the final text? In the words of Joe Biden, c’mon man. > [@BigT](#): > > Trump said these stupid things, which is evidence of declining intelligence compared to what he’s said before, and thus evidence of dementia. You even admitted he didn’t know what he was saying. You guys are acting like the dude is speaking extemporaneously, generating ideas from his own head. He’s not. He’s reading. It’s really not that hard to figure out. I like how you say “admitted”, like a confession or something. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/102 "2019-07-10T03:25:33Z")
Yeah, but he told a bunch of boy scouts about his friend’s sex yacht; it’s hard to chalk that one up to a bad read. It’s not my place to say if President Not-my-type is clinically mentally ill, but I feel safe in proclaiming him fucking bonkers. He’s at the bottom end of every other bell curve that describes human behaviour, why not mental health’s as well? ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/103 "2019-07-11T00:24:54Z")
This parody doesn’t sound to far off from reality. I’ve no idea if bush has dementia, but he is definitely an idiot. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NI0_mEMaTyE/maxresdefault.jpg ""TRUMP IN ASIA" — A Bad Lip Reading") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI0_mEMaTyE) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/104 "2019-07-11T01:43:35Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Guys, it’s not that hard to figure out. “Ramparts” was on the teleprompter. He’s behind bulletproof glass, rain is beading on the panes, so probably on the screen too, and he’s got 70 year old eyes. It says “manned the ramparts.” He said “manned the air [whoops, I mean] rammed [ah fuck, it says ramparts] the ramparts.” Does it make sense? No. Does it make him look stupid? Yes. Is it hard to figure out what happened? No. Do you remember when the right used to complain endlessly about how Obama would read his speeches off a teleprompter? Because I do And now we’re supposed to excuse Trump being a deranged, incompetent moron who thought there were airports in the 18th century because he read it on a teleprompter? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/105 "2019-07-11T01:49:34Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Do you remember when the right used to complain endlessly about how Obama would read his speeches off a teleprompter? Because I do > > And now we’re supposed to excuse Trump Supposed to? Who is doing supposing? Were you given a homework assignment or something? > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > being a deranged, incompetent moron who thought there were airports in the 18th century because he read it on a teleprompter? > > Nope. So you agree he misread a teleprompter. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/106 "2019-07-11T02:01:03Z")
No, I don’t agree his misread a teleprompter. I’m saying even if he did it doesn’t excuse him being a fucking moron. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/107 "2019-07-11T02:07:53Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > …I feel safe in proclaiming him fucking bonkers… Now that’s a diagnosis I heartily endorse! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/108 "2019-07-11T02:19:44Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > …I feel safe in proclaiming him fucking bonkers… > [@Moriarty](#): > > Now that’s a diagnosis I heartily endorse! Oh, but poor Bonkers. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/109 "2019-07-11T03:56:36Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > So you agree he misread a teleprompter. There’s a delightful children’s book, [The Book With No Pictures](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZwY5BeYcyo), designed to be read aloud. > [@The Book With No Pictures](#): > > Here is how books work: everything the words say, the person reading the book _has to say_. > > No matter what. > > That’s the deal. > That’s the rule. > > So that means, even if the words say > > BLORK > wait–what? > > That doesn’t even mean anything. And so on, until by the end of the book the reader confesses to having a best friend named Boo Boo Butt and to being a monkey who taught themselves to read and who is reading with a monkey mouth in a monkey voice. Kids freakin LOVE this book. Part of what’s so funny to them is that it’s obviously not true: just because the words are on the page, YOU DON’T ACTUALLY HAVE TO READ THEM. Teleprompters work the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/110 "2019-07-11T04:02:52Z")
To be clear: I can easily imagine myself misreading a teleprompter and thinking the word “rampart” was “airport.” But I cannot imagine myself **not realizing what I was saying**. And if I’d said something about an 18th-century army taking over airports, I can’t imagine just continuing on as if there was nothing wrong with that. Motherfucker just keeps on talking through that line, doesn’t even stumble after he says “they took over the airports.” That’s not right, y’all. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/111 "2019-07-11T04:06:45Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > After that, he’s off track. Watch his hands. His body language says “I don’t know what to say.” > > … > > You guys are acting like the dude is speaking extemporaneously, generating ideas from his own head. He’s not. He’s reading. I’m actually having trouble figuring out your argument, on rereading it. When he’s blathering about taking over airports, do you believe he’s reading, or do you believe he’s off-track and doesn’t know what to say and so is extemporizing? ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/112 "2019-07-11T05:27:52Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > To be clear: I can easily imagine myself misreading a teleprompter and thinking the word “rampart” was “airport.” > > But I cannot imagine myself **not realizing what I was saying**. And if I’d said something about an 18th-century army taking over airports, I can’t imagine just continuing on as if there was nothing wrong with that. Motherfucker just keeps on talking through that line, doesn’t even stumble after he says “they took over the airports.” > > That’s not right, y’all. I suspect that his disinclination for reading briefing papers (and apparently pretty much anything) may be due to some form of dyslexia and/or refusal to use glasses as age hampers his eyesight. He misreads a word and his mouth fills in something similar sounding. He doesn’t notice that it doesn’t make sense because the words are of no significance to him - they are merely the “blah, blah, blah” that lets him stand up there in the role of POTUS and have people applaud him and jet planes roar overhead. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/113 "2019-07-11T12:34:50Z")
Exactly. If you give Trump every possible benefit of the doubt, then he’s still at a minimum incredibly dumb, incompetent and ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/114 "2019-07-11T13:53:46Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > I suspect that his disinclination for reading briefing papers (and apparently pretty much anything) may be due to some form of dyslexia and/or refusal to use glasses as age hampers his eyesight. He misreads a word and his mouth fills in something similar sounding. He doesn’t notice that it doesn’t make sense because the words are of no significance to him - they are merely the “blah, blah, blah” that lets him stand up there in the role of POTUS and have people applaud him and jet planes roar overhead. [Like this.](https://thoughtsinflight.typepad.com/.a/6a0120a873ef36970b014e87cbbfac970d-600wi) All he hears are a few key words and his name. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/115 "2019-07-14T18:38:07Z")
Neurological disorder? Sounds like something clinical that I’m not qualified to diagnose. However, I can comment on what I observe. Trump was raised in Dr. Norman Vincent Peales’ “Power of Positive Thinking” church. The basic tenet of the church is to react to the world as you believe it should be - not as it is. Trump constantly exhibits this characteristic. In Trumps’ world he is the all powerful head of the US Government. Those who support his world view are noble and skilled. Those who do not support his world view are stupid loosers. An individual may occupy both positions within minutes of each other. It’s simply Trumps’ world view at the time of the utterance. The past, fact and truth do not exist in the Peale positive philosophy. Positive belief can alter reality. Ones religious belief is delusional, even an atheist. It’s a matter of degree. So, is Trumps’ delusion an illness? Is his philosophy in the office of President a First Amendment violation? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/116 "2019-07-14T18:46:07Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > To be clear: I can easily imagine myself misreading a teleprompter and thinking the word “rampart” was “airport.” > > But I cannot imagine myself **not realizing what I was saying**. And if I’d said something about an 18th-century army taking over airports, I can’t imagine just continuing on as if there was nothing wrong with that. Motherfucker just keeps on talking through that line, doesn’t even stumble after he says “they took over the airports.” > > That’s not right, y’all. But they had already “rammed the ramparts” in the previous sentence. Clearly taking over the airports is the next strategic move. A very stable genius knows this. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/117 "2019-07-14T19:34:56Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [Like this.](https://thoughtsinflight.typepad.com/.a/6a0120a873ef36970b014e87cbbfac970d-600wi) All he hears are a few key words and his name. :rolleyes: Ha. I knew it would be this cartoon. One of my favs. ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/118 "2019-07-24T08:54:36Z")
He’s now referring to Boris Johnson as “Britain Trump”. Not “British Trump”. Britain Trump. Doesn’t make sense. And saying that we in the UK love him … sorry, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t despise him. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/119 "2019-07-24T11:12:21Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [Like this.](https://thoughtsinflight.typepad.com/.a/6a0120a873ef36970b014e87cbbfac970d-600wi) All he hears are a few key words and his name. :rolleyes: The dog is even almost the right color. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/120 "2019-07-24T12:45:46Z")
I’ll admit that I don’t watch Trump’s every move, but lately he seems to be more coherent, if no less hateful and wrong. His recent attacks on AOC and others, and his “love it ir leave it” speeches have seemed dangerously calculated and consistent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379.md?page=7)