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 may have suffered a "distinct neurological event" at a recent speaking appearance, according to one psychologist, who called the footage some of the "most alarming" and "extremely concerning" evidence of Trump's deterioration.
Dr. John Paul Garrison is a clinical and forensic psychologist specializing in body language, and he also works as a content creator, using his professional insights to examine the behavior of major public figures. He has made numerous videos examining the president across various appearances and has often noted that he appears to show signs of neurological decline, suggesting also that he may have suffered from a stroke at some point since returning to the White House.
In his latest video, Garrison examined Trump's speech from earlier this week at an event in which he bestowed the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to NASA's Artemis II team. During the address, Garrison noted that the president showed some of the most alarming signs yet of neurological issues and went so far as to suggest that he suffered an episode of some kind.
He highlighted a specific point in the speech, as the president talked about the stock market, in which he appears to suffer a spasm in one arm, blinks and then spasms in the other arm. Garrison explained that this looked like a neurological issue moving across both sides of Trump's brain.
"What you just observed was a distinct and concerning neurological event, and you got to watch it cross both hemispheres of his brain," he said. "I'll explain what I mean. You saw his right arm jerk, and then you saw him blink. You heard his voice hesitate, and then you saw his left arm jerk. You literally watched it travel across his brain."
After replaying the portion of the speech a few more times, he added: "And to be very clear, these were not simple muscle spasms. This is not something related to pain. You don't see any pain on his face. And you actually watch it travel from one arm to his eyes to his voice to his left arm. Now, what this is very consistent with is something that we see in people that have had strokes called a focal aware seizure or a focal motor seizure. And this can be focused in one part of the brain, and occasionally it can spread to both parts of the brain. Doesn't always, but sometimes the activity will move across the brain. And I'm not insisting that's what's going on with him, but it is clearly something neurological, whether it's post-stroke or something else. But sometimes there's scarring in the cortical areas, and this can cause focal aware seizures."
The Epilepsy Foundation describes focal aware seizures as a type that can begin in one portion of the brain, and during which the person experiencing them remains entirely responsive and conscious of what is happening.
Garrison further highlighted distinct signs of disorientation during the supposed event, noting how Trump appeared to repeat himself unintentionally.
"There are a variety of reasons that someone may be exhibiting these neurological symptoms, but it is clear throughout this that he is declining and he is struggling," Garrison concluded later. "I do think we're seeing these neurological issues playing out in real time and affecting his judgment, Lake America being a prime example of that."
