President Donald Trump speaks during a dinner with the leaders of the C5+1Central Asian countries in the East Room of the White House. (REUTERS)
President Donald Trump demonstrated further signs of "steep neurological decline," as flagged by a body language expert, as well as potential "seizure activity" during a public appearance this week.
Dr. John Paul Garrison is a clinical and forensic psychologist with a particular expertise in body language cues. He is also a prolific content creator, using his professional insights to dissect the behaviors of various public figures. Many of his videos have focused on Trump, with Garrison suggesting that he is showing signs of major neurological and cognitive decline, sometimes consistent with patients who are recovering from a stroke.
In his latest video, Garrison noted that, just this week, Trump has exhibited signs of "involuntary vocalizations" and "language production issues," with yet more signs of "steep" decline cropping up during his addresses at the GOP midterm convention. He first highlighted an instance of what he described as the president having "a very strong involuntary jerk that moves his entire body," during a segment of his speech attacking Democrats for "voting against" measures that would require proof of citizenship at polling places.
"Now, I've shown many times that his arm has a tendency to spasm now," Garrison explained. "And this is what we call myoclonus. It's an involuntary jerk that happens very quickly. And what that means is there is some abnormal activity somewhere in his motor nervous system. There are a wide variety of neurological conditions that cause myoclonic activity, but as you can see, this is distinctly involuntary... You could even hear it in his voice. It pushed him so hard that you could actually hear it when he said against."
Later, he also highlighted an instance of possible "seizure activity," something he has observed from Trump elsewhere in recent weeks. During a "highly stimulating" situation in which Trump was observing an opera singer performing with balloons falling, Garrison highlighted a quick sequence in which his right arm jerked, his teeth were bared and his mouth seemed to droop.
"Now, something simple like myoclonic activity shouldn't go through the body in that way. That's something more complex," Garrison explained. "That's more consistent with seizure activity because you're seeing it spread. It's spreading from the arm to the mouth to the eyes, and then you're seeing it in the mouth again. And right now, the smile he had before is completely gone. I do think this had a very disorienting effect."
More odd evidence was also present throughout the opera singer's performance. At one point, Trump reached a hand up towards his tie for reasons unclear, which Garrison suggested could have been "abnormal brain activity" triggered by the "confusing" and overwhelming situation around him. When he later attempted to shake hands with the singer, he did so in an odd manner, as if he was having "a hard time figuring out what to do."
Garrison also noted a sense of hesitancy in Trump's delivery during the widely derided comments in which he urged his supporters to "cheat" on behalf of Republicans in the midterms, suggesting that it could have been the result of a lapse in decision-making that has become a more and more alarming trend.
"Now, for a brief second, you heard a little bit of hesitancy in his voice because there was a decision-making process as to whether or not to say this," Garrison observed. "I don't think this part of the speech was actually prepared. I don't think he was intending to say that. But because he has the inability to use good judgment because he cannot inhibit his behavior, it came out anyway. And this is what we're going to see more and more of, and this is what's so concerning about the kinds of decisions he can make on the world stage. He has lost the ability to make coherent judgments rapidly."
