Trump's 'Inability to Use Good Judgment' Flagged in Psychologist's Body Language Analysis

A psychologist who reviews footage of public figures says Donald Trump's 'inability to use good judgment' surfaced again this week, after the president made remarks reported as urging supporters to cheat on behalf of Republicans during a speech at the GOP midterm convention. Dr John Paul Garrison, a clinical and forensic psychologist and content creator who analyses public figures' body language on video, said the moment fits a pattern he has tracked for months.

To recall, Garrison has built an online following breaking down Trump's public appearances clip by clip, arguing at various points that the president shows behaviour he associates with stroke recovery. His newest video, posted this week, walks through two incidents from the convention speech and a further clip of Trump greeting an opera singer at a separate event.

Garrison's own credentials are in clinical and forensic psychology, not neurology, and his assessments are based on watching video rather than any examination, medical record or scan. IBTimes UK cannot independently verify his claims, so they should be read as one analyst's interpretation of public footage rather than a medical finding.

Trump's Inability to Use Good Judgment Tied to Involuntary Arm Movement

The first moment Garrison highlighted came as Trump criticised Democrats over proof-of-citizenship requirements at polling stations. He said the president's entire body appeared to jerk involuntarily as he spoke, something he argued was audible in his voice.

'Now, I've shown many times that his arm has a tendency to spasm now,' Garrison said. 'And this is what we call myoclonus. It's an involuntary jerk that happens very quickly. And what that means is there is some abnormal activity somewhere in his motor nervous system.'

He further added, 'There are a wide variety of neurological conditions that cause myoclonic activity, but as you can see, this is distinctly involuntary... You could even hear it in his voice. It pushed him so hard that you could actually hear it when he said against.'

Psychologist Points to Brain Activity Claims in Separate Appearance

Garrison also reviewed a clip from a separate event, where Trump watched an opera singer perform as balloons fell around him. He described a sequence in which the president's arm jerked, his teeth were bared and his mouth appeared to droop, arguing it looked less like a simple spasm and more like activity spreading through the body.

'Now, something simple like myoclonic activity shouldn't go through the body in that way. That's something more complex,' Garrison said. 'That's more consistent with seizure activity because you're seeing it spread. It's spreading from the arm to the mouth to the eyes, and then you're seeing it in the mouth again. And right now, the smile he had before is completely gone. I do think this had a very disorienting effect.'

Trump also reached for his tie during the performance, which Garrison suggested could reflect 'abnormal brain activity' triggered by what he called a 'confusing' situation. When Trump later went to shake the singer's hand, Garrison said he appeared to be having 'a hard time figuring out what to do.'

It's the reported remarks about cheating, though, that Garrison ties most directly to his central claim. He said he heard a pause in Trump's delivery just before the comment, which he read as hesitation over whether to say it at all.

'Now, for a brief second, you heard a little bit of hesitancy in his voice because there was a decision-making process as to whether or not to say this,' Garrison said. 'I don't think this part of the speech was actually prepared. I don't think he was intending to say that. But because he has the inability to use good judgment because he cannot inhibit his behavior, it came out anyway.'

He added, 'And this is what we're going to see more and more of, and this is what's so concerning about the kinds of decisions he can make on the world stage. He has lost the ability to make coherent judgments rapidly.'

Garrison has not said whether he plans to submit his footage or findings to a medical professional for review. For now, his analysis remains a single content creator's reading of public video, nothing more, nothing confirmed.