Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Three months ago, Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race over concerns that he is too old to serve another term as president. Now that Donald Trump, who is 78, is running against a candidate 19 years his junior, polls show Americans are increasingly worried about his health and mental faculties. However, in a 12:43 a.m. message posted to Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump suggested that if either candidate is physically unfit for the presidency, it’s Kamala Harris:
The VP being covered in itchy red welts and suffering from “deeply serious conditions” that impact her functioning certainly sounds “not good”! But I’m not a physician and neither is Trump, so let’s have a consultation with Dr. Google.
First, Trump notes that Harris has “urticaria,” which, it seems, is just the technical term for … hives? That doesn’t seem like a big deal.
And here’s what the Cleveland Clinic has to say about allergic rhinitis:
Allergic rhinitis, also called hay fever, is an allergic reaction that causes sneezing, congestion, itchy nose and watery eyes. Pollen, pet dander, mold and insects can lead to hay fever symptoms.
Allergic conjunctivitis is when allergens cause inflammation in the tissue that lines your eyelids and the whites of your eyes. Common causes include pollen, dust and pet dander. Symptoms include red, itchy, swollen and watery eyes.
So what Trump calls Harris’s “very messy and dangerous situation” is just seasonal allergies, which afflict one in four American adults.
In the letter summarizing Harris’s health, released by the White House on Saturday, U.S. Army physician Joshua R. Simmons actually said the VP is in “excellent health” and noted her allergies and hives “improved dramatically” with common medications like Allegra, to the point that she no longer needs to take them regularly:
Nevertheless, in a Truth Social missive posted later on Tuesday morning (hopefully after he got some sleep), Trump continued to argue that “Kamala’s Medical Report is really bad”:
The evidence that Trump’s “REPORT IS PERFECT – NO PROBLEMS!!!” is actually scant. Overnight, he claimed he has “put out more Medical Exams than any other President in History” (which is not true). He also said he “aced two Cognitive Exams” (it’s not entirely clear what this refers to, but he has been bragging about passing a 2018 dementia screening for years):
In response to calls for Trump to follow Harris and release his recent medical records, campaign communications director Steven Cheung said the former president has “voluntarily released updates from his personal physician, as well as detailed reports from Dr. Ronny Jackson, who treated him after the first assassination attempt.” The statement included links to two one-page letters in which Jackson said Trump’s ear was beginning to “heal properly” and that Trump’s initial hospital evaluation included a “CT of his head.” (Jackson did not elaborate on what that scan found.) The campaign also linked to a vague 2023 letter in which Trump’s physician described his health as “excellent” twice in three paragraphs. None of the documents contained detailed information, like the results of Trump’s lab work and scans or even his current weight.
But perhaps the most important evidence that Trump is “far healthier than Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, but especially, Kamala” is what we can observe with our own eyes. While most politicians sit around and answer questions at town halls, Trump this weekend showed he has the mental acuity, strength, and stamina to sway and bop around to music for 39 minutes straight. We’ve never seen Trump’s presidential foes do that!
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