Former President Donald Trump was roasted by critics after he challenged former South Carolina Governor and fellow GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley to an "aptitude test" after Haley questioned his cognitive function.
Haley, who in the past has called for presidential candidates over the age of 75 to pass cognitive assessments—Trump is 77—said Trump is “not as sharp” as he “used to be" after he appeared to mix her up with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi during a campaign event in New Hampshire last week.
Trump had blamed Haley for the insurrection of January 6, 2021, the day a mob of his followers attacked the United States Capitol on the false premise the 2020 general election had been stolen. He has previously leveled those same attacks at Pelosi but nonetheless attacked Haley, his former United Nations Ambassador who left the Trump administration in 2018—and wasn't even at the Capitol that day.
These facts prompted Haley to question Trump's mental acuity:
“It’s things like that. He said multiple times that he ran against President Obama. He didn’t run against President Obama."
"These things happen because, guess what? When you’re 80, that’s what happens. You’re just not as sharp as you used to be.”
You can hear what she said in the video below.
When asked to respond to Haley's criticisms, Trump insisted to Fox News’ Martha MacCallum he was “a lot sharper than” Haley and challenged her to an "aptitude test":
“I would do this. I would sit down right now and take an aptitude test, and it would be my result against her result, and she’s not gonna win, not gonna even come close to winning.”
“In fact, when I heard the word ‘cognitive,’ you know, I’ve taken two of them now. I took one with Doc Ronnie, who’s now a fantastic, you know, White House doctor and a fantastic congressman from Texas."
"Admiral. The White House doctor. Jackson. Ronny Jackson. And he’s now a great congressman from Texas."
"I took one then, and I took one recently. I think the result was announced and it was, I aced it twice. I aced it.”
“But I would say that, you know, I’ve actually called for a cognitive test for anybody running for president because I actually think that’s a good idea. It’d be nice to have an intelligent person be president.”
You can hear what Trump said in the video below.
In fact, the "intelligence test" Trump bragged about was actually a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a widely used screening assessment for detecting cognitive impairment.
MoCA was designed to assess different cognitive domains, including attention and concentration, executive functions, memory, language, visuoconstructional skills, conceptual thinking, calculations, and orientation.
The assessment's questions are simple and ask test subjects to demonstrate if they can remember five words. Critics have stressed that it is unimpressive that Trump can remember five words—namely “person, woman, man, camera, TV”—as he demonstrated at one point on live television.
Trump was widely mocked for his remarks.
Trump was roasted by critics recently after he challenged President Joe Biden to a mental "acuity test" in a post on Truth Social, his personal social media platform.
Trump proposed the idea of a mental acuity test, claiming that no one would come close to his performance. This challenge was prompted by a recent Wall Street Journal poll in which 49 percent of respondents believed Trump was not mentally fit for the presidency, compared to 60 percent for Biden.
That proposal came after he claimed he is much healthier than Biden, declaring his recent medical exam results were exceptional, even asserting that he excelled in a cognitive test. Trump has in the past referred to himself as a "perfect physical specimen," offering yet another example of his braggadocio when it comes to his health and physical prowess.
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