President Donald Trump said on Thursday that every presidential and vice presidential candidate should be required to undergo a cognitive examination before entering the race. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he took the cognitive test three times during his terms and aced it each time, asserting that mandatory testing would have prevented figures such as Barack ‘Hussein’ Obama or ‘Sleepy Joe’ Biden from being elected.
The remarks followed a call from Maryland Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, who asked the White House physician to administer a cognitive test to Trump amid concerns about his intensified rhetoric regarding the US conflict with Iran, according to CNN.
Separately, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on December 1 that Trump was in normal physical health following a comprehensive executive physical. Leavitt said advanced cardiovascular and abdominal imaging was performed as a preventative measure appropriate for men in his age group. She described the imaging results as normal, reporting no evidence of arterial narrowing, no abnormalities in the heart or major vessels, normal heart chamber size, smooth vessel walls, and no signs of inflammation or clotting. Leavitt added that abdominal imaging and evaluation of other major organs also showed healthy appearance and function, and that the detailed assessment is standard for an executive physical at the president’s age.
Trump framed his proposal as a way to improve the quality of candidates who run for the nation’s highest offices. The topic has drawn attention from both supporters and critics who differ on whether cognitive testing should be mandated for elected officials and how such tests should be administered and interpreted.
