A clinical psychologist has raised concerns about Donald Trump’s involuntary movements, including “problems controlling his mouth,” during his first appearance since the Republican midterm defeat.
On Nov. 3, the Democrats swept the midterms, seizing control of both chambers of Congress and delivering a major blow to Donald Trump’s second term. But the president insisted the outcome would have been different had he been running.
In a defiant Truth Social post, Trump fumed, “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”
‘The reason we lost is the war’
The election fallout also raised questions about the political cost of the war with Iran, which Vice President JD Vance had linked to Republican losses.
“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance shared in a lengthy X post the morning after.
During his first public appearance since the election, Trump visited the construction site of his White House ballroom, where reporters asked him about Vance’s comments.
Trump acknowledged that the war “drove the gasoline up a little bit short-term,” but stood by his decision.
“At the same time, if I had it to do again, I’d have to do it again, because long-term it’s the only answer. You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” he told reporters, according to the New York Times.
While discussing the construction project, Trump was also seen holding a hard hat, an otherwise ordinary moment that caught the attention of a clinical psychologist watching the footage.
‘Problems controlling his mouth’
Dr. John Paul Garrison, a clinical and forensic psychologist who analyzes politics and true crime on YouTube, noticed something unusual about Trump’s movements as he handled the helmet.
“Something we’ve observed from Trump over and over and over again is problems controlling his mouth as well as his limbs,” said the doctor, who goes by Dr. G.
“And it appears when he’s holding this hard hat, we’re seeing him engage some strange behavior in his mouth as well as his arms. All of it appears to be involuntary,” he suggested.
After replaying the footage, the psychologist questioned whether Trump had consciously controlled those movements.
“His behavior before and after gives me no indication that that was a voluntary behavior, and as I’ve talked about many times, there can be multiple reasons for something like this,” the psychologist said.
‘Focal aware seizure’
He suggested several possible neurological explanations, although none could be established from the video. It’s also worth noting that conditions like seizures and stroke damage are diagnosed by neurologists through testing, not by psychologists watching footage.
“Whether it’s a focal aware seizure, whether it’s something related to some form of dementia or vascular dementia or something similar, or whether it’s related to scarring in the brain after a stroke, there are a wide variety of neurological reasons we might see something like this,” he suggested.
Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, meanwhile, has previously reported that the president “remains in excellent health” and that his “demanding daily schedule, including multiple high-level meetings, public engagements and regular physical activity, continues to support his overall well-being.”
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