During a rally in North Carolina on Tuesday, President Donald Trump discussed his performance on cognitive tests, a topic he has frequently raised. He suggested that while the initial questions were straightforward, the later ones became exceptionally difficult.
Trump illustrated this by recounting an early question where participants are shown a lion, a snake, a bear, and a giraffe and asked to identify the giraffe. He then referred to the "fake news" media for reporting on his comments about the "last questions" on these tests, stating, "There’s not a person there that could answer."
The tests Trump appears to be referencing are likely the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). According to medical resources, the MoCA is designed to be a simple exam for detecting cognitive impairment, rather than a measure of high intelligence, contrary to Trump's claims.
A sample MoCA test includes early-stage questions such as drawing a clock, identifying animals, and repeating a series of words. Subsequent sections involve tasks like recalling sequences of numbers and letters, performing subtractions, repeating sentences, listing words beginning with a specific letter within a minute, identifying similarities between objects, and recalling previously presented words. The final question typically asks for the date and location where the test is being administered.
In 2020, Trump gained attention for recounting his performance on a similar test, stating on Fox News that doctors were impressed when he successfully remembered and repeated five words: "person, woman, man, camera, TV." More recently, at an Arizona rally, he described himself as a "freaking genius," claiming that test administrators were astonished by his ability to recall another set of five words: "hat, hair, logo, white, black."
A July poll indicated that 46% of Americans rated Trump's mental sharpness as president as "poor." This rating was only 4% lower than the percentage who gave a similar rating to his predecessor, Joe Biden.