Dem
47
GOP
53
There are some downsides to being an elderly president. Ronald Reagan, of course, had memory issues that either began during or immediately after his presidency. Joe Biden, who was even older than St. Ronnie when he left the White House, also had memory issues, not to mention cancer. Donald Trump—stop us if you have heard this before—also appears to have memory issues, along with... who knows? Trump's even older than the Gipper was (79 years, 118 days at the moment, as compared to 77 years, 349 days when Reagan left office in 1989), and there has been enough evidence of problematic symptoms (pale complexion, sweating, drooping face, cankles, bruises on hands, etc.) to launch a cottage industry in Trump health speculation.
Generally, we ignore those stories because we have not examined Trump, and we are not doctors. However, things are a little different today. This morning, Trump will address yet another group of generals, presumably giving them another rendition of his stump speech. Then, he will head to Walter Reed for a physical. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained that the physical is his "routine yearly check up." There is one small problem here, and many readers presumably know what it is: Trump had a "routine yearly check up" just 6 months ago.
It is entirely understandable that a president would choose to be circumspect about their healthcare. First of all, a president must project strength, both domestically and abroad, and being mentally or physically infirm does not advance that goal. Further, it's entirely possible that the problem or problems being addressed are personal and/or embarrassing. What if he has, say, anal fissures or lice or a scorching case of herpes? Probably don't want that to become a topic of national conversation.
However, telling such an obvious lie ("Normal physical! Nothing to see here!") is not going to achieve whatever it is that the administration wants to achieve. Trump has lied so frequently, and so blatantly, about his health that absent some pretty good alternate explanation (even if that explanation is not truthful), the unscheduled "annual physical" is just going to add to the speculation that something is really wrong. And again, a belief that he is in poor health, accurate or not, runs entirely counter to a belief that he's strong and has a firm hand on the steering wheel of the ship of state. That's bad news for any president, but especially for a president whose image is based on how powerful and macho he is. (Z)