Yale psychiatrist says it's clear Trump was not given the correct cognitive test

Yale psychiatrist Dr. Bandy Lee has detailed President Donald Trump's mental decline she has witnessed over the past several years he's been in politics. She has not only called the president a "dangerous" but, she's also called on leaders to consult with mental health experts during impeachment or request a 72-hour hold for a mental health evaluation.

When she saw Trump's interview with Fox News on Wednesday in which he detailed the specifics of the 30-question cognitive exam, she explained it was important why such exams should be done multiple times over several years to be able to gauge any changes over time.

"Donald Trump legally bears all criminal responsibility," she tweeted Thursday. "But we as [a] society should recognize that he is also handicapped, as are his followers, and not give in to their pathological drives. We should count neither legitimate choice as pathology, nor pathology as [a] legitimate choice. This is why it is critically important to screen in advance for mental pathology, to detect the warning signs that are familiar to mental health experts but not always obvious to the untrained eye. We should not gamble with matters of health and disease, or life and death."

Another problem Dr. Lee had with Trump's exam is that it was given by a subordinate to Trump, Dr. Ronny Jackson, who has since resigned for ethical concerns. He's now running for Congress as a Republican.

"White House-employed, subordinate to commander-in-chief Ronny Jackson, instead of referring the president for a proper test, must have given the screen (not a real test) he [thinks] he could pass: one full-blown Alzheimer and hospitalized schizophrenia patients are known to 'ace,'" Tweeted Dr. Lee in a thread. "Dr. Jackson, due to lack of independence, had no business declaring the president 'fit,' ESPECIALLY (sic) after a 10-minute screen."

She said that it was evidence of malpractice, which only adds to the ethical concerns about him giving controlled substances without proper exams.

"In my view, this warrants his losing his medical license, if not his being charged for criminal endangerment of an entire nation," Dr. Lee said. Jackson also endangered his patient by performing a 'mental fitness test' without the required training in mental health."

The main point she wants people to understand is that Trump was not given the "right test" from an independent person with mental health training. She said it is now being "used to deceive the public that the president was 'fit.'"

"I usually include a complex item, such as an address, and an abstract word, such as 'honesty,' UNLESS the patient is so impaired, recalling less concrete items will be hard (but it may also be Ronny Jackson’s lack of training, since related words, 'woman, man,' are not good)," she tweeted.

She closed by noting that Trump thought he took the test a year ago when it was actually 2.5 years ago. Others have observed that Trump couldn't remember the name of the test meant to test his memory.

"Also, the concreteness of items he was given says something," she closed.

It's also important to note that there was an independent, peer-reviewed panel of experts who performed a standardized fitness test for the president's mental capacity when the information was available. You can read that here.