Former Republican Primary Campaign Attorney Claims in Op-Ed
"Not Just Simple Lies, but Likely Confabulation... A Neurological Symptom"
There have been claims from some quarters that U.S. President Donald Trump is showing signs of dementia. This is due to recent instances where he has not only exaggerated or distorted facts, but has also been observed fabricating events that never occurred.
On August 1 (local time), The Hill, a U.S. political news outlet, published an op-ed titled "Trump's Mental Decline Is Undeniable" by attorney Chris Truax, who previously worked on a Republican primary campaign.
Through his article, Truax pointed out, "Trump has previously distorted or exaggerated facts for his own purposes, but recently he has been speaking about things that simply do not exist as if they were real."
Truax analyzed this not as mere lying, but as confabulation, a neurological symptom. Confabulation is a condition where a person fills gaps in memory by inventing stories, and the individual is unable to distinguish between reality and fiction. It is known to frequently appear as an early sign of dementia, especially among the elderly.
As a representative example, he cited a speech Trump gave on July 15. At that time, Trump claimed that his uncle had earned degrees in nuclear science, chemistry, and mathematics from MIT, and that he had taught the 'Unabomber' terrorist Ted Kaczynski.
In reality, Trump's uncle, John Trump, was a professor at MIT specializing in electrical engineering and physics, and Kaczynski graduated from Harvard, not MIT. Moreover, John Trump died in 1985, well before Kaczynski was apprehended.
Additionally, Truax criticized Trump's statement that he would "lower drug prices by 1,000%." He explained, "If a price is reduced by 100%, it means it is free," and analyzed, "For someone like Trump, who has studied business administration and run companies, confusing such basic figures could be a sign of cognitive decline."
Trump also claimed that billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's underage sex crime case was orchestrated by former President Barack Obama. However, when Epstein was arrested in 2019, Obama had already left office. Truax explained, "Confusing the timing of past events is also a classic form of confabulation."
Truax stated, "Admitting that the president is suffering from dementia may be an uncomfortable truth," but warned, "If someone who must make important decisions for the United States and the world is recounting fictitious memories as if they were facts and confusing basic concepts, this should not be overlooked."
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