Jim Acosta takes Trump's favorite cognitive test and boasts 'I totally aced it'

WASHINGTON, DC: Former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta recreated one of President Donald Trump’s most repeated boasts on camera when he took the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test and jokingly declared, “I totally aced it,” while a doctor stressed the exam “has nothing to do with intelligence.”

The segment on ‘The Jim Acosta Show’ centered on Trump’s years-long habit of touting his performance on the MoCA exam as proof of his intellect. The live demonstration instead focused on the test’s actual purpose: screening for cognitive impairment.

Jim Acosta recreates Trump moment

During the segment, emergency room doctor Dr Rob Davidson administered the assessment to Acosta, who finished with what Davidson described as a perfect score despite briefly forgetting the word “daisy” during a recall section.

“Oh my goodness. That’s it. Wow!” the independent journalist said after completing the test before quickly joking that it “was very easy.”

Davidson explained that the assessment is designed to detect “mild cognitive impairment” and noted that a score of 26 or lower could indicate concern. After tallying the results, he told Acosta, “Your score is a 30.”

Acosta immediately leaned into a Trump-style celebration.

“Alright, thank you so much Dr Rob… The score’s the score. It’s official. I aced it!” he said before launching into an impersonation of the president.

“(TRUMP VOICE) I totally aced it! Totally aced this test! And it was fake news when you said daisy. That was fake news,” Acosta joked.

Doctor explains what the MoCA test measures

After the joking ended, Acosta turned serious and said, “It is totally nuts that he claims that this is some sort of measurement of his IQ, because this is not an IQ test.”

Davidson reinforced the point repeatedly during the conversation.

“Let’s make it clear. It’s not an IQ test,” the doctor said. “It is a measurement of cognitive decline, right? Nothing to do with intelligence.”

The doctor added that even highly accomplished people can develop dementia, recalling a patient whose husband told him she had once been a first-chair violinist with the Boston Symphony.

“This clearly accomplished person, she had this horrible disease,” Davidson said. “So yeah, this has nothing to do with intelligence.”

Acosta later returned to Trump’s repeated public references to the exam, including his descriptions of identifying animals and answering basic orientation questions.

“You were asking me what city I’m in, you’re asking me what day of the week it is, you asked me what a lion is,” Acosta said as Davidson agreed the tasks were intended to measure cognitive function rather than aptitude.

He stopped short of making any diagnosis about Trump but admitted the president’s fixation on the test raises questions.

“I won’t make a diagnosis,” Davidson said. “But something just seems not right… to perseverate on this test and to tout its difficulty.”