Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Oct 29: US President Donald Trump has once again stirred controversy by claiming he aced an “IQ test,” which experts clarified was actually a dementia screening exam. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, the 79-year-old president touted his “perfect score” and challenged his Democratic rivals, Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), to take the same test.
“They have Jasmine Crockett, a low-IQ person. AOC is low IQ… You give her an IQ test, have her pass the exams I took at Walter Reed. Those are very hard — really aptitude tests, or cognitive tests. Let AOC go against Trump,” he said, taking a swipe at his opponents.
Reports indicate that Trump was referring to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a brief test used to detect early signs of dementia, not to measure intelligence. His physician had confirmed earlier this year that Trump underwent the test during his annual checkup at Walter Reed Medical Center and “aced” it.
Recalling the test, Trump boasted about its difficulty. “The first couple of questions are easy — a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe. But when you get to 10, 20, or 25, they couldn’t answer any,” he said.
The MoCA test, developed by Canadian neurologist Dr Ziad Nasreddine, is a 10-minute tool assessing memory, attention, language, and visuospatial skills. Dr Nasreddine has repeatedly clarified that the test does not measure IQ or indicate intelligence levels.
Trump had previously urged his then-rival Joe Biden in 2020 to take the same test, claiming it as proof of his own mental sharpness.