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Politics 




Trump keeps losing his train of thought. Cognitive experts have theories about why 


 
By Olivia GoldhillAug. 7, 2024 
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JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images



















































In a speech earlier this year, former President Trump was mocking President Biden’s ability to walk through sand when he suddenly switched to talking about the old Hollywood icon Cary Grant.
“Somebody said he [Biden] looks great in a bathing suit, right? When he was in the sand and he was having a hard time lifting his feet through the sand, because you know, sand is heavy. They figure three solid ounces per foot. But sand is a little heavy. And he’s sitting in a bathing suit. Look, at 81, do you remember Cary Grant? How good was Cary Grant, right? I don’t think Cary Grant — he was good. I don’t know what happened to movie stars today,” he said at a March rally in Georgia. Trump went on to talk about contemporary actors, Michael Jackson, and border policies before returning to the theme of how Biden looks on the beach.advertisement

This shifting from topic to topic, with few connections — a pattern of speech called tangentiality — is one of several disjointed and occasionally incoherent verbal habits that seem to have increased in Trump’s speech in recent years, according to interviews with experts in memory, psychology, and linguistics.


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About the Author						
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Olivia Goldhill

Investigative Reporter
Olivia Goldhill works to hold corporations and public bodies to account, with a particular interest in reproductive health, mental health, and psychedelics.



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				@OliviaGoldhill			

 


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From Calvin and Hobbes … “His train of thought is still boarding at the station”.