What we witnessed yesterday on MTP

[Martin Eden]

47. I suppose dementia can present itself in different ways

My aunt 's dementia progressed steadily. Early on, she would abruptly lose her train of thought, forget where she was or why. She would repeat herself within a few minutes, not remembering what she had just said. Eventually, she could not recognized her daughters in whose house she lived.

In what I saw of the Welker interview, Trump was thoroughly, emphatically on point. He was visibly angry, likely due to a number of factors. First is his privileged status and antipathy towards anyone who has the gall to confront him -- especially women of color. But deep down, if only subconsciously, he knows things aren't going well for him. Fear is growing, so he compensates with monuments and depicting himself as savior or superhero in hundreds of Truth Social posts.

He's always felt the need to dominate, to win. Self promotion has always been central to his game. He lies about everything, and won't admit anything. Never play defense, always attack.

Those traits have been evident since he entered politics. Now, nearing 80 years old with evidence of his failures growing harder to ignore, he is more easily emotionally triggered.

That's what I'm seeing, which possibly doesn't preclude dementia. At his rallies he likes to "weave" and perseverate in odd tangents, but that's been going on for years. He's an old man who stays up at night posting on social media, which may account for why he nods off in meetings. Recently said "Ukraine" when he meant Iran, but I haven't seen him really lose his train of thought while he's onto something.

Maybe I just don't watch him enough, which is hard to stomach. His malignant narcissism is definitely getting worse, and I will admit I don't have the professional background to disgnose whether dementia has been added to the mix which includes pathological liar.