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The Atlantic

The Atlantic

Trump’s Repetitive Speech Is a Bad Sign

The Atlantic
Summary
Nutrition label

70% Informative

Julian Zelizer : The presidential debate was an excellent real-world test of candidates' cognitive fitness.

He says Donald Trump displayed striking patterns that are commonly seen among people in cognitive decline.

Zelizer says the debate is a more demanding and representative test of cognitive health than a simple mental-status exam.

Trump ’s speech during the debate was repetitive not only in form but also in content.

People tend to stick to familiar topics over and over when they experience an impairment in cognitive functioning, for instance, in short-term memory.

Even in cases where Trump could have reasonably defended himself, he was unable to articulate basic exculpatory evidence.

VR Score

74

Informative language

71

Neutral language

59

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

51

Offensive language

possibly offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

detected

Time-value

short-lived

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