President Donald Trump claimed throughout a press briefing aboard Air Power One on October 27, 2025 that he had taken an “IQ check” at Walter Reed Nationwide Navy Medical Heart and achieved an ideal rating, difficult Democratic Representatives Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez to take the identical examination.In actuality, the query check seems to have been the Montreal Cognitive Evaluation (MoCA)—a quick screening software for early cognitive decline, not an intelligence (IQ) check, in response to Individuals. The discrepancy between what was claimed and what consultants say the check measures raises questions on transparency, well being communication, and political messaging.
What Trump stated and the way he framed it
Trump described the check as “very arduous” and prompt it was akin to an inherent ability or cognitive examination:“They’ve Jasmine Crockett, a low IQ particular person. AOC is low IQ… You give her an IQ check, have her go, like, the exams that I made a decision to take once I was at Walter Reed… I took- These are very hard- They’re actually aptitude checks, I assume, in a sure manner, however they’re cognitive checks.” He additionally recounted what he stated have been pattern questions: “The primary couple questions are straightforward: a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe, you recognize. If you rise up to about 5 – 6 after which whenever you rise up to 10 and 20 and 25, they couldn’t come near answering any of these questions.”
What the check actually is
Globally, questions concerning the well being and cognitive health of older political leaders are more and more frequent. Screening instruments exist to determine early impairment, however they aren’t designed to judge intelligence or total management capability. Media literacy round such checks stays low; when high-profile figures misuse or mislabel them, public misunderstanding grows.
