This might be possibly the most cynical thing I will write this week.
Consider the possibility that the GOP, the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society, etc. have all noticed Trump's increasing dementia and are all agreed upon it. They also all recognize that Trump is still their "big ticket item" for getting GOP turnout, and that without him the Republicans will not galvanize their base and get the voter turnout that they need to win in November. They are using Trump as their spearpoint for project 2025, and are fully prepared to invoke the 25th amendment once he gets into office. Once they have captured the government, they don't need him anymore.
One small correction, the former guy DOES NOT HAVE AN MBA. He attended the undergraduate business school at UPenn, which also known as Wharton. He did not attend the Wharton graduate program.
Soon after he became president I decided I needed to watch him give a speech, hoping to understand his plans as president and his thought process better. After about ten minutes I understood all I needed. He couldn't finish a thought or even many sentences. I really had no idea what his message was. And this was in 2017.
I believe people do have a duty to warn. Thank you for this article.
What concerns me more than Trumps mental illness is the American vulnerability/inclination to be attracted to authoritarianism. Authoritarian personality traits are strong in 35 percent of the American population. Scholars like Jonathan Weiler and Matthew MacWilliams have found that ONLY about 25 per cent of the American population are on the non-authoritarian end of the spectrum.35 per cent are somewhere in the middle and 30-35 per cent are on the authoritarian end of the scale. That’s the bigger picture that keeps Trump so much in the picture and leaves so much left out of the picture and that keeps our debates so narrowly framed.
Balanced inclusive deliberative thinking is replaced with shortcuts, stereotypes with strong men with simple solutions. The fragmentation of social media and politics has the space for thoughtful discussion becoming smaller and smaller as we go faster and faster with increasing volumes of algorithmic information. The loudest unbalanced voice gets rewarded with the most attention in our attention economy. In our winner takes all society bullies win.
Correction: This article originally referred to Trump an "Ivy League MBA.” We have corrected it to read "Ivy League graduate,” as his degree from Wharton degree was an undergraduate degree.
Thanks for such a detailed account of his madness. I like to refer people to his radio interviews with Howard Stern. If you listen to them, you hear a guy who is clearly a jerk, but he's a jerk who can string paragraphs together and stay on point. This is no longer the case at all.
I'm sure Mr. Gartner is correct. He'll be a vegetable before his term is up. I thought he would be by now, based on his previous term, but he's hung in there somehow. I have witnessed dementia up close and personal. I don't like using the word, "vegetable," to refer to someone who is suffering, but in his case, it is we who are suffering. He needs to be shut down, and I appreciate Mr. Gartner's efforts. I also relate to Mr. Gartner's not wanting to be involved with politics. I look forward to the day when I can ignore politics, too.
Thank you (and the others who signed the document you cite) for your courage and thoroughness in summarizing all of this. Those of us who don't watch the rallies or speeches or read them, other than as passing references in the mainstream press - and all too rarely there - are able to parse together this clinical picture. When he was president, I did read the mainstream press, and was shocked at how each would edit his words so they made sense. I wondered then why they were doing that. In your post today, I also appreciate your reflection: "One day, in silence, in my garden, I felt the Universe, God, the Force, whatever you want to call it, communicate with me."
Thank you for a very helpful and detailed coverage of an important issue. Sad that the mainstream media is so terrified of actually committing journalism that they won't ever consider covering the issue.
This likely helps explain why he is so terrified of a debate. Having to be on stage side-by-side with Prez. Biden would make it blindingly obvious to everyone watching just who the doddering "old man" was . . .
"If you can’t trust doctors, when we’re talking about a medical condition, then who can you trust?" This is yet another reason why Republicans have been anti-science. I'm also old enough to remember Ronald Reagan's second term where he appeared less and less often in public. It was later learned that he had dementia and others were actually running the country.
Thank you for being so clear with this important information. Some of us knew and saw the deterioration but did not have the professional, clinical words to talk about what we were seeing.
This is one of the most terrifying articles I have ever read, it made my blood run cold. Dementia is awful, but a demented TRUMP in the WH would be a disaster for our country.
He also misidentified E. Jean Carroll as his former wife and stays up all hours of the night posting on his fake twitter account. His makeup application lately has been especially egregious, reminding me of my 96 year old grandmother applying too much “rouge” and thinking it is beautiful.
These indicate sundowning, or maybe abusing some types of stimulants like Adderall. Some think he is using Ozempic to lose weight and this may be causing his dementia like symptoms, but that seems to be a cop out to me. I truly believe the signers of this document are precisely on point.
Thank you! Many of us who've paid attention to this man have noticed these changes but did not have the medical expertise to define it. I do not believe Trump will be re-elected due to many other factors but he's too close to the oval office. It's likely to be a nail-biter election and there's much foul play afoot to cause confusion and mistrust.
This might be possibly the most cynical thing I will write this week.
Consider the possibility that the GOP, the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society, etc. have all noticed Trump's increasing dementia and are all agreed upon it. They also all recognize that Trump is still their "big ticket item" for getting GOP turnout, and that without him the Republicans will not galvanize their base and get the voter turnout that they need to win in November. They are using Trump as their spearpoint for project 2025, and are fully prepared to invoke the 25th amendment once he gets into office. Once they have captured the government, they don't need him anymore.
One small correction, the former guy DOES NOT HAVE AN MBA. He attended the undergraduate business school at UPenn, which also known as Wharton. He did not attend the Wharton graduate program.
Soon after he became president I decided I needed to watch him give a speech, hoping to understand his plans as president and his thought process better. After about ten minutes I understood all I needed. He couldn't finish a thought or even many sentences. I really had no idea what his message was. And this was in 2017.
I believe people do have a duty to warn. Thank you for this article.
What concerns me more than Trumps mental illness is the American vulnerability/inclination to be attracted to authoritarianism. Authoritarian personality traits are strong in 35 percent of the American population. Scholars like Jonathan Weiler and Matthew MacWilliams have found that ONLY about 25 per cent of the American population are on the non-authoritarian end of the spectrum.35 per cent are somewhere in the middle and 30-35 per cent are on the authoritarian end of the scale. That’s the bigger picture that keeps Trump so much in the picture and leaves so much left out of the picture and that keeps our debates so narrowly framed.
Balanced inclusive deliberative thinking is replaced with shortcuts, stereotypes with strong men with simple solutions. The fragmentation of social media and politics has the space for thoughtful discussion becoming smaller and smaller as we go faster and faster with increasing volumes of algorithmic information. The loudest unbalanced voice gets rewarded with the most attention in our attention economy. In our winner takes all society bullies win.
Correction: This article originally referred to Trump an "Ivy League MBA.” We have corrected it to read "Ivy League graduate,” as his degree from Wharton degree was an undergraduate degree.
Thanks for such a detailed account of his madness. I like to refer people to his radio interviews with Howard Stern. If you listen to them, you hear a guy who is clearly a jerk, but he's a jerk who can string paragraphs together and stay on point. This is no longer the case at all.
I'm sure Mr. Gartner is correct. He'll be a vegetable before his term is up. I thought he would be by now, based on his previous term, but he's hung in there somehow. I have witnessed dementia up close and personal. I don't like using the word, "vegetable," to refer to someone who is suffering, but in his case, it is we who are suffering. He needs to be shut down, and I appreciate Mr. Gartner's efforts. I also relate to Mr. Gartner's not wanting to be involved with politics. I look forward to the day when I can ignore politics, too.
Thank you (and the others who signed the document you cite) for your courage and thoroughness in summarizing all of this. Those of us who don't watch the rallies or speeches or read them, other than as passing references in the mainstream press - and all too rarely there - are able to parse together this clinical picture. When he was president, I did read the mainstream press, and was shocked at how each would edit his words so they made sense. I wondered then why they were doing that. In your post today, I also appreciate your reflection: "One day, in silence, in my garden, I felt the Universe, God, the Force, whatever you want to call it, communicate with me."
Thank you for a very helpful and detailed coverage of an important issue. Sad that the mainstream media is so terrified of actually committing journalism that they won't ever consider covering the issue.
This likely helps explain why he is so terrified of a debate. Having to be on stage side-by-side with Prez. Biden would make it blindingly obvious to everyone watching just who the doddering "old man" was . . .
Excellent article and one that should be shared on all platforms. The American people need to know these warning signs.
"If you can’t trust doctors, when we’re talking about a medical condition, then who can you trust?" This is yet another reason why Republicans have been anti-science. I'm also old enough to remember Ronald Reagan's second term where he appeared less and less often in public. It was later learned that he had dementia and others were actually running the country.
Thank you for being so clear with this important information. Some of us knew and saw the deterioration but did not have the professional, clinical words to talk about what we were seeing.
This is one of the most terrifying articles I have ever read, it made my blood run cold. Dementia is awful, but a demented TRUMP in the WH would be a disaster for our country.
He also misidentified E. Jean Carroll as his former wife and stays up all hours of the night posting on his fake twitter account. His makeup application lately has been especially egregious, reminding me of my 96 year old grandmother applying too much “rouge” and thinking it is beautiful.
These indicate sundowning, or maybe abusing some types of stimulants like Adderall. Some think he is using Ozempic to lose weight and this may be causing his dementia like symptoms, but that seems to be a cop out to me. I truly believe the signers of this document are precisely on point.
Thanks to the 25th Amendment, Trump's VP pick may prove to be historic.
Thank you! Many of us who've paid attention to this man have noticed these changes but did not have the medical expertise to define it. I do not believe Trump will be re-elected due to many other factors but he's too close to the oval office. It's likely to be a nail-biter election and there's much foul play afoot to cause confusion and mistrust.
I noticed that Trump's only general public-facing presentations, (not his MAGA-loving rallies,) seem to be highly edited videos.
I wonder if he'll functionally collapse, and then all ANYBODY will see of him will be highly edited videos from Mar-a-lago.
Where's Waldo???