Washington (Associated Press) Donald Trump On Saturday night, the president Joe Biden “He needs to undergo cognitive testing,” he wrote, but the next sentence leaves him confused as to who administered the test.
“I think it's important to be mindful of what's going on in our country,” the former president and Republican front-runner was referring to the Republican congressman from Texas. Ronny JacksonHe referred to Biden, who served as the White House physician during his presidency, as “Lonnie Johnson.” The moment came as Trump, as he often does on the campaign trail and on social media, has questioned Biden's mental competency.
“He doesn't even know what the word 'inflation' means. He should take a cognitive test like I did,” the former president said of Biden. Speech at the Turning Point Action rally in Detroit.
After a few seconds, he continued, “Dr. Lonnie Johnson. Do you all know Congressman Lonnie Johnson from Texas? He's the White House physician, and he said I'm the healthiest president in history. So I immediately took a really good liking to him.”
Jackson was elected to Congress in 2021 and has been one of President Trump's most vocal defenders in Congress.
Trump, who turned 78 on Friday, has made questioning whether Biden, 81, will seek a second term a centerpiece of his campaign. But critics online were quick to pounce on his Saturday night gaffe, and the Biden campaign has long fended off criticism of Trump's election. Democratic President's Gaffe — posted a clip of the moment minutes later.
Trump I took a cognitive test in 2018. “This is at his request,” Jackson told reporters at the time. The test is designed to detect early signs of memory loss and other mild cognitive impairments.
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The Montreal Cognitive Assessment test that Trump took included memorizing a list of spoken words, hearing a list of random numbers and repeating them in reverse, saying as many words beginning with the letter F as possible within a minute, accurately drawing a cube and describing specific similarities between two objects, such as a train and a bicycle.
Trump later said: He had to remember Then recite the list of words in order: “People. Women. Men. Cameras. Television.”
In the same speech in Detroit, Trump also tweeted a recently concluded tweet that has been widely circulated online within the Republican Party. G7 Summit in Italy Watch as skydivers land carrying the flags of different countries.
A cropped version of the video shows Biden walking away from the leaders, turning his back and walking in the opposite direction. He gives a thumbs up, but it's unclear who he's gesturing to. But a fuller angle of the same scene shows him turning toward the skydivers as they land.
Still, Trump played up the video clip, falsely saying Biden had turned around “to look at the trees,” drawing laughter and boos from the crowd.
The Biden campaign issued a statement denying the video was edited in a misleading manner and accusing those who spread it of “altering the video to fabricate lies.”