# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/141 "2019-08-23T17:16:53Z")
As long as Trump can wind himself up and get out there, McConnell and the GOP will continue to do so. He spits out a few key phrases, his ardent supporters fill in the blanks and ignore the glitches, and all appears well. In fact, I think his supporters trust him more because he’s NOT coherent: to them it reads as unscripted and sincere. (Can’t trust politicians who are smooth, eloquent, and educated.)To admit he’s neurologically compromised would derail the Trump Train and lead to GOP defeat in 2020, they can’t have that, no matter what the cost to the country. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/142 "2019-08-23T17:25:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Has it gotten to the point that, if he got up there and drooled uncontrollably while attempting to talk, they would just let him continue? This has been my singular and most fondest hope for him. To see him struck down by a stroke in the most public and embarrassing way imaginable. I mean a full on drooling, babbling, incontinent meltdown. One which he absolutely must survive but never recover from and be forced to watch on replay on Fox News for the rest of his worthless life. Insh’allah. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/143 "2019-08-23T18:16:44Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Mush-[del]brain[/del] mouth is [is at it again](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-speech-veterans-student-debt-isis-a9074261.html). The part that’s most telling to me isn’t the mispronunciations; I can attribute that to a mismatch in thinking/speaking speeds. It’s the continual Porky-Pig style pauses and rephrasings- he’ll start saying something, have it derail, and then just sort of go on with something else- sometimes a variation on what he was going to say, and others in a non-sequitur way. It’s like he’s not quite able to hold a coherent thought and articulate it in speech- he just sort of has diarrhea of the mouth, which is not particularly uncommon in early dementia patients. > **[Rambling And Vague Speech Could Be an Early Sign of Mental Decline](https://www.sciencealert.com/rambling-and-vague-speech-could-be-early-signs-of-alzheimer-s-scientists-find)** > > New research suggests that rambling and non-specific speech could be early signs of Alzheimer's disease or dementia. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/144 "2019-08-23T18:34:26Z")
> [@quicksilver](#): > > this has been my singular and most fondest hope for him. To see him struck down by a stroke in the most public and embarrassing way imaginable. I mean a full on drooling, babbling, incontinent meltdown. One which he absolutely must survive but never recover from and be forced to watch on replay on fox news for the rest of his worthless life. Insh’allah. best speech evar!!! ---
**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:** [August 23, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/145 "2019-08-23T19:08:03Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Mush-[del]brain[/del] mouth is [is at it again](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-speech-veterans-student-debt-isis-a9074261.html). He’s pretty sweaty in that clip. ---
**Author:** ![Charlotte\_Little](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Charlotte\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlotte_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/146 "2019-09-01T17:10:48Z")
Given Trump’s behavior and appearance at the G7, I began digging on Twitter, found Tom Joseph and started following him. I don’t know that the man is correct about what is going on with Trump, and he certainly shouldn’t be diagnosing Trump from afar. But something is amiss and more and more folks are realizing it. (Just in 72 hours, Tom’s Twitter following has gone up from 43K to 46k, so I’m not the only curious cat.) From Nicole Wallace to Rachel Maddow this past week, the questioning & speculation without mentioning dementia is happening. Pair that with Trump being whisked off to Camp David and then off to “golf” after canceling his trip to Poland, and then Pence seeming to step in for Trump to speak on Hurricane Dorian, Tom may be on to something. [https://twitter.com/TomJChicago/status/1168132680438951936](https://twitter.com/TomJChicago/status/1168132680438951936) I’m fascinated by it, because for the life of me, I cannot understand Pelosi’s reluctance to go full throttle on impeachment. If she knows Trump is ill and deteriorating, that may be what’s motivating her to keep hitting the brakes even though we are now at the place where over half of the House is calling for his removal. Things are not as they seem. There is an explanation that we are not (and may never be) fully aware of. But if Tom is right, Trump will not be mentally or physically able to run for reelection. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/147 "2019-09-01T18:36:22Z")
> [@Charlotte\_Little](#): > > Given Trump’s behavior and appearance at the G7, I began digging on Twitter, found Tom Joseph and started following him. I don’t know that the man is correct about what is going on with Trump, and he certainly shouldn’t be diagnosing Trump from afar. But something is amiss and more and more folks are realizing it. (Just in 72 hours, Tom’s Twitter following has gone up from 43K to 46k, so I’m not the only curious cat.) > > From Nicole Wallace to Rachel Maddow this past week, the questioning & speculation without mentioning dementia is happening. Pair that with Trump being whisked off to Camp David and then off to “golf” after canceling his trip to Poland, and then Pence seeming to step in for Trump to speak on Hurricane Dorian, Tom may be on to something. > > [https://twitter.com/TomJChicago/status/1168132680438951936](https://twitter.com/TomJChicago/status/1168132680438951936) > > I’m fascinated by it, because for the life of me, I cannot understand Pelosi’s reluctance to go full throttle on impeachment. If she knows Trump is ill and deteriorating, that may be what’s motivating her to keep hitting the brakes even though we are now at the place where over half of the House is calling for his removal. > > Things are not as they seem. There is an explanation that we are not (and may never be) fully aware of. But if Tom is right, Trump will not be mentally or physically able to run for reelection. Interesting read. I think even if he doesn’t or can’t run for re-election, he’ll finagle a trip to Russia for whatever reason, announce he’s having the best doctors, Russian doctors, check his health, then he never returns to avoid maybe prosecution. And I’m sure that GOP members have noticed this about his behavior too, so maybe they’re thinking that the jig is up. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/148 "2019-09-01T23:18:57Z")
> [@Charlotte\_Little](#): > > … I cannot understand Pelosi’s reluctance to go full throttle on impeachment. If she knows Trump is ill and deteriorating, that may be what’s motivating her to keep hitting the brakes even though we are now at the place where **over half of the House is calling for his removal**. … IF “over half the House” were calling for impeachment (not “removal,” as the House has no power to remove a president), then it would be remarkable indeed that Pelosi hasn’t called for a vote. But of course that is not the case. There are 435 voting members of the House, and to date 134 of them have called for “an impeachment inquiry” (not a vote). (‘More than half’ of 435 would be 218.) An impeachment vote now would endanger the House Democratic majority: > [@](#): > > Of the 31 lawmakers from districts Trump won in 2016, only two — freshman Reps. Lauren Underwood of Illinois and Chris Pappas of New Hampshire — have backed impeachment during the six-week-long congressional recess, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. > > “People in my district are wanting us to pass bills, and they fear that if we go down this path of impeachment, we’re not going to be working on the things that affect their lives, their pocketbooks, their kids,” said freshman Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who represents a Trump district and has yet to back an impeachment inquiry. > > … House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has also resisted calls for proceedings in part out of concern about political blowback on these very lawmakers who were crucial to delivering the House majority last year. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-democrats-in-trump-districts-resist-liberal-pressure-on-impeachment/2019/08/30/97254710-ca7c-11e9-8067-196d9f17af68\_story.html](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-democrats-in-trump-districts-resist-liberal-pressure-on-impeachment/2019/08/30/97254710-ca7c-11e9-8067-196d9f17af68_story.html) And of course a vote that leads to a Senate acquittal would give Trump a boasting-point that far outstrips a mere ‘they haven’t voted to impeach me’\*. And practical people are looking at the results of such a vindication for Trump. How would Americans be better off with Republican-majority Senate AND House (again), with a re-elected Trump? > [@](#): > > And as Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) told impeachment-backing constituents at a recent town hall: The Senate is refusing to vote on a bipartisan gun control bill supported by the vast majority of Americans; if the Senate won’t do that, don’t expect senators to vote to convict Trump, she said. _ibid_ \*The idea is often advanced by Impeach Now advocates, that if the House doesn’t impeach soon, Trump will brag that they \*can’t \*impeach him. That theory comes off poorly against reality: he could be bragging about that every day-----_yet he never mentions it_. So that particular talking point appears to be worthless. [My emphasis in the first quote.] ---
**Author:** ![Charlotte\_Little](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Charlotte\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlotte_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/149 "2019-09-01T23:42:57Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > IF “over half the House” were calling for impeachment (not “removal,” as the House has no power to remove a president), then it would be remarkable indeed that Pelosi hasn’t called for a vote. > > But of course that is not the case. There are 435 voting members of the House, and to date 134 of them have called for “an impeachment inquiry” (not a vote). (‘More than half’ of 435 would be 218.) > > An impeachment vote now would endanger the House Democratic majority: > > [My emphasis in the first quote.] I meant impeachment and House democrats (republicans will never be on board). I guess I need to slow down and really look at what I’ve typed. As for the rest of your comment, I don’t agree. Impeachment is their job whether or not the senate will vote to remove him. You don’t let the corrupt decide the outcome without even being willing to fight. It is the one remedy to (try to) remove a corrupt POTUS and is morally imperative. If not Trump, then no future POTUS will be impeached. We might as well just roll over and allow authoritarianism to settle in. Not everything is political. Sometimes it’s just about right and wrong and standing up for your country. No one, _no one_, can predict what will ultimately happen in 2020. And as I was saying in this thread about Trump’s failing faculties - he may not even be the candidate after all. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/150 "2019-09-02T00:16:19Z")
> [@Charlotte\_Little](#): > > I meant impeachment and House democrats (republicans will never be on board). I guess I need to slow down and really look at what I’ve typed. > > As for the rest of your comment, I don’t agree. Impeachment is their job whether or not the senate will vote to remove him. You don’t let the corrupt decide the outcome without even being willing to fight. It is the one remedy to (try to) remove a corrupt POTUS and is morally imperative. If not Trump, then no future POTUS will be impeached. We might as well just roll over and allow authoritarianism to settle in. > > Not everything is political. Sometimes it’s just about right and wrong and standing up for your country. No one, _no one_, can predict what will ultimately happen in 2020. And as I was saying in this thread about Trump’s failing faculties - he may not even be the candidate after all. I agree that we don’t know what the coming months hold with respect to Trump’s health—it’s entirely possible that he’ll suffer some health crisis (stroke; heart attack; something else) that will be so clearly debilitating that the Cabinet and Pence will actually put the 25th Amendment into action. I still haven’t seen an “impeach now” argument that works, though. How is it “fighting” to hand the House back to the Republicans and the WH back to Trump (assuming he remains minimally upright and coherent)? The 2020 election will _not_ be determined solely by Woke Twitter. The majority of Americans, who oppose impeaching Trump, will determine that outcome. They will let Democrats who try to take things into their own hands, know their displeasure. How is it “fighting” to simply surrender to corrupt fascism? Isn’t it better to root out corrupt fascism by empowering the people of the United States to declare their preference for the rule of law—by voting for it? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/151 "2019-09-02T00:31:36Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Isn’t it better to root out corrupt fascism by empowering the people of the United States to declare their preference for the rule of law—by voting for it? By that argument, there is no place for impeachment at all. Just wait out the election cycle. I don’t believe the impeachment process should be the subject of a popularity contest, but clearly the politicos do. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/152 "2019-09-02T06:22:57Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > How is it “fighting” to simply surrender to corrupt fascism? > > Isn’t it better to root out corrupt fascism by empowering the people of the United States to declare their preference for the rule of law—by voting for it? What nonsense is this? Doing nothing is “to simply surrender.” Impeaching is fighting. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/153 "2019-09-02T15:13:03Z")
[Trump’s continual decline of his cognitive abilities.](https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/01/politics/donald-trump-category-5-hurricane-dorian/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/154 "2019-09-02T18:42:23Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I agree that we don’t know what the coming months hold with respect to Trump’s health—it’s entirely possible that he’ll suffer some health crisis (stroke; heart attack; something else) that will be so clearly debilitating that the Cabinet and Pence will actually put the 25th Amendment into action. > > I still haven’t seen an “impeach now” argument that works, though. How is it “fighting” to hand the House back to the Republicans and the WH back to Trump (assuming he remains minimally upright and coherent)? The 2020 election will _not_ be determined solely by Woke Twitter. The majority of Americans, who oppose impeaching Trump, will determine that outcome. They will let Democrats who try to take things into their own hands, know their displeasure. > > How is it “fighting” to simply surrender to corrupt fascism? > > Isn’t it better to root out corrupt fascism by empowering the people of the United States to declare their preference for the rule of law—by voting for it? In this analysis you are missing the most important thing about impeachment. It’s a process. it is not supposed to be undertaken only when the conditions are favorable. During impeachment the public opinion changes. That arena is where the struggle against fascism is played out. Unless we just don’t want to struggle because we never had to before and we shouldn’t have to now? I don’t feel comfortable with letting the rain wash aways the bad things. It’s a new world and the rain may not do what you need it to. ---
**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:** [September 2, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/155 "2019-09-02T22:57:31Z")
> [@Charlotte\_Little](#): > > As for the rest of your comment, I don’t agree. Impeachment is their job whether or not the senate will vote to remove him. As stated above, when the Republicans do no vote to impeach, Trump and folks who voted for him will regard that as a victory. Their belief in Trump will be strengthened. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/156 "2019-09-02T23:41:29Z")
> [@Charlotte\_Little](#): > > … > Not everything is political. Sometimes it’s just about right and wrong and standing up for your country. No one, _no one_, can predict what will ultimately happen in 2020. … Thank you. Those that will vote for Trump in 2020 know right now that they’re going to vote for Trump in 2020. The House beginning impeachment right now has no effect on that whatsoever. They can’t vote any harder, or with more force, or whatever the concern is. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/157 "2019-09-03T00:24:09Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > As stated above, when the Republicans do no vote to impeach, Trump and folks who voted for him will regard that as a victory. Their belief in Trump will be strengthened. When the case has been made, but McConnell steps in and saves his ass in the senate, and keeps him in office, they may regard it as anything they want but the days when that matters will be over. You realize the statement you made above also will pertain to all the other possibilties too: if dems don’t impeach they can also declare victory. They will even if he is convicted. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/158 "2019-09-03T00:37:07Z")
It must be hurting Bill Clinton that by the end of this presidency he and Andrew Johnson remain the only members of the Impeachment Club. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/159 "2019-09-03T02:05:50Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > I’ve no idea if bush has dementia, but he is definitely an idiot. Not contesting your assertion that the CIA were deeply misguided in naming “[The George Bush Center for Intelligence](https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/todays-cia/george-bush-center-for-intelligence/)” (albeit, for the elder), quite a number of experts and armchair diagnosticians are under the opinion that he (w) suffered from dyslexia. Which fails to explain dad – perhaps there is a silver spoon malady that affects those raised in privilege. ---
**Author:** ![Charlotte\_Little](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Charlotte\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlotte_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379/160 "2019-09-03T02:15:37Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > As stated above, when the Republicans do no vote to impeach, Trump and folks who voted for him will regard that as a victory. Their belief in Trump will be strengthened. He’s claiming that he’s been exonerated now (no collusion! no obstruction!) and his base already views it as a victory. After all, if the DEMs aren’t impeaching, then he must be innocent, right? Seriously, the argument against impeachment is both bizarre and dead wrong. And every day that passes, the DEMs look weaker and more complicit, especially Pelosi. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-neurological-health-a-rational-discussion-please/836379.md?page=9)