MS NOW Co-Host Knocks Capehart Off His Trump ‘Mental Acuity’ Hobbyhorse

Jonathan Capehart MS NOW The Weekend 10-31-26

When it comes to politics, MS NOW is very orthodox: everyone sings from the same liberal hymnal. Hosts and guests alike reliably spout the same lefty talking points o’ the day.

So it was surprising to hear Jackie Alemany, co-host of The Weekend, go off-script on Saturday. Even more shocking: she did so at the expense of her co-host, Jonathan Capehart.

For years, Capehart’s hobbyhorse has been claiming that President Trump has lost mental acuity. We’ve documented it more than once. 

Jonathan mounted his sleazy steed—yet again—on Saturday. He referred to Trump’s habit of mentioning his high MoCA test scores. Capehart—emphasizing the honorific “doctor”—played a clip of Abdul El-Sayed saying that the MoCA is only administered when there are concerns about a person’s acuity.

The panel was having great fun with the topic . . . until Alemany piped up:

“I have to just put in my two cents. As someone who has recently been seeing him very up close. I mean, we were just on the rope line watching him shake hands with babies in costumes for like an hour and a half. I guess he’s gotten older. He is different than the person who came into the presidency.

“But I do not see, I do not necessarily see the cognitive decline. It was visible with Biden. You saw it. There was something palpably off. I don’t get that same feeling.”

Capehart has had a front-row seat to observe the acuity difference between Trump and Biden. Interviewing Biden in 2022, Capehart had to jog him awake when he dozed off mid-sentence. It was so telling of Biden's decline that Capehart cut that seminal moment from the interview video.

After Alemany's body blow, Capehart tried to recover, mumbling about Trump having taken three cognitve assessments, then quickly ending the segment before Jackie could inflict any more humiliation on him. Poor Jonathan, bucked off his hobbyhorse.

Speaking of doctors, has anyone checked in with “Dr.” Jill on the comparative acuity of Trump and her husband?

Here’s the transcript.

MS NOW
The Weekend
10/21/26
7:23 am EDT

JONATHAN CAPEHART: President Trump, when he does these rallies, he, he plays the hits. You know, he just, he goes into the arena and he says all the things, including his bragging about having aced three cognitive tests. Which

EUGENE DANIELS: It means you have to take three cognitive tests.

CAPEHART: Well, hold on, hold on, cause, you know, I'm all about what about his mental acuity.

Well, leave it to Doctor Abdul El-Sayed to finally go there on the president bragging about his three cognitive tests that he says not even Barack Obama can pass.

Please! Listen to Doctor Abdul El-Sayed explain why bragging about these tests ain't what he thinks it is.

ABDUL EL-SAYED: Look, I, I, I went to medical school, okay? Whole medical school, whatever Mike Rogers wants you to think. And I remember in my neurology unit, I, I would I would have to give that MOCA exam. You know, the cognitive test he's so proud of?

And the only people that you give a MOCA test to are people who you worry may have cognitive deficits. Like, by definition, if you're taking one of those tests, something's wrong!

CAPEHART: Correct! Correct.

DANIELS: I  have not taken one: have you?

CAPEHART: No. I have not.

EUGENE ROBINSON: No.

CAPEHART: But, but here's the thing, and I want to give, I want to give kudos to our colleague Lawrence O'Donnell, who's been out there from the beginning saying, you know, the president first started bragging about these tests when he was 71. He is now 80.

. . . .

JACKIE ALEMANY:  I do, I do have to, I have to just put in my two cents.

As someone who has recently been seeing him very up close, I mean, we were just on the rope line watching him shake hands with babies in costumes for like an hour and a half. I, yes, he's gotten older. He is different than the person who came into the presidency. But I do not see, I do not necessarily see the cognitive decline.

DANIELS: There's a difference between shaking babies and actually running the country.

ALEMANY: I, I know, but the Biden, the Biden, you, it was visible with Biden. You, you saw it, there was something palpably off. I don't get that same feeling.

CAPEHART: Eugene Robinson. Three tests, three cognitive tests. And we have to go. We are so in trouble.