On Friday evening, a widely cited psychologist noted a number of “concerning” and “strange” behaviors by President Donald Trump, suggesting that the 80-year-old commander-in-chief is experiencing some form of “neurological decline.” This is according to Dr. John Garrison, who warns that during Trump’s recent appearances on the midterm campaign trail, he exhibited symptoms relating to stroke or some other condition.
Garrison begins by analyzing a video of Trump campaigning at a Texas Peterbilt factory, where he stands by as a speaker introduces him. Suddenly, Trump licks his lips in a provocative manner and runs his hands down the speaker’s shoulders.
“What we just observed ... was both impulsivity as well as a loss of motor control," said Garrison, adding that both "are controlled up here in the front of the brain."
"This is the most complex and most advanced part of our brain, and when people have neurodegenerative diseases, when people have strokes or something similar, it can cause damage up here and it can be difficult to inhibit certain behaviors. Sometimes when people are too excited, we see motor issues spill over into other areas.” And after replaying the clip, Garrison notes, “Right now, he's feeling so excited. He's biting his bottom lip. He feels so enthusiastic about this that he almost can't stop himself.”
In Garrison’s assessment, this could be evidence of “sort of brain injury, a lesion, brain damage.”
From there, as the video continues, Garrison points out a number of spasm “clusters” that have become increasingly frequent. While these issues were once limited to the right side of Trump’s body, now, Garrison notes that you can see the involuntary motions move from right to left, “which means that the dysfunctional pathways are crossing the brain.” Then after the president appears to momentarily lose his balance, he suddenly clenches his hand into a fist before raising it to his face and examining it and rubbing it with the other hand.
“I don't think that was voluntary,” asserts Garrison. “I think his hand closed on its own, and it surprised him because you're going to see right after that happened, he lifted his hand up and actually looks at his hand. I think he's used to some of these other symptoms. I think he's used to the right arm spasm. This one I don't think he's so used to and it caught him off guard.”
From there, Garrison moves on to a clip of an executive order signing in the Oval Office, during which an official is lavishing the president with praise. According to Garrison, Trump – who normally lights up at such talk – appears to be “checking out,” “disoriented,” and on the verge of falling asleep. Suddenly, Trump’s face twists in an expression that Garrison asserts indicates that “he actually can't control the right side of his mouth.”
Garrison closes by analyzing a much-discussed video during which Trump strikes a strange, off-balance stance while speaking with reporters. “If you're looking closely, you can see his right leg does appear stiffer than his left when he's walking,” says Garrison. “The reason for this could be that he's wearing some sort of knee-ankle-foot brace or something similar to that. Some kind of device to help him with unilateral weakness. In other words, weakness on one side of the body.” There could be a variety of reasons for that, explains Garrison. “Sometimes, for example, if someone has a stroke, they need to wear a knee-ankle-foot device in order to help them with coordination with rehabilitation,” he says, noting that it could also involve some other form of “neurological illness or damage.”
Concerns about Trump’s physical and cognitive decline have been raised frequently over the course of his second term, and now Garrison concludes with a warning, asserting, “There seems to be real motor dysfunction with the right side of his body. There seems to be a lot of involuntary behaviors that are happening over and over again… and it does appear to be something distinctly neurological.”
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