Old Men and Power

The only reason we know Trump had an MRI recently was because he told us about it. He also claimed it was “perfect” but his track record when it comes to telling the truth about things like that isn’t all that great.

Perhaps his doctors ordered the test to establish a baseline in their elderly patient because he is showing early signs of cognitive decline. That is speculation, but I’m basing it on his comments Monday that besides the MRI, he again took the Montreal cognitive assessment.

Physicians only schedule MRIs for patients showing symptoms — usually neurological or cardiological — and not as a routine part of a physical exam for a healthy patient.

Trump is 79. For him, like all of us, the indignities of aging include some measure of physical decline. Sadly, this is not one of those things that you can hope to reverse. Perhaps you can delay it a bit, but you can’t prevent it.

As our two most recent Presidents have struggled with these inevitable aspects of aging, they’ve seemingly grown ever more desperate to hold onto power. Biden wouldn’t give up his campaign for re-election in 2024 until the shocking decline in his cognitive functioning became painfully obvious for all to see in a national debate.

Now we have Trump, who openly fantasizes about a third term, which would keep him in the White House well into his 80s. It’s a major stretch to imagine him healthy enough to do that. Perhaps the fact that these men reached the pinnacle of power only very late in life prevents them from gracefully yielding it back, as that feels way too much like giving in to their impending mortality.

But with Trump, we do not need to wait for the results of an MRI to know what we can see with our own eyes. Like Biden, this is an old guy in decline.

HEADLINES:

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