“That’s a mistake”: Former White House doctor calls BS on Tr*mp’s sterling health claims

Cardiologist Jonathan Reiner has consistently called out White House obfuscation around Tr*mp’s health for months, and as a top doctor in his field, he should know.

In a New York Times op ed published yesterday, Reiner said exactly what we’re all thinking. Photos from a weekend golf tournament showed the progression of Tr*mp’s hand bruising all along his left arm, leading Reiner—and everyone else—to come to the same conclusion. The guy doesn’t look great, and we should probably have a bit more transparency around the many health problems, both mental and physical, that Tr*mp is dealing with.

“Despite reassurances from the White House to the contrary, at times over the past year, the president has not looked well,” Reiner writes. An understatement, surely! He even sneaks in a mention of the 25th Amendment, which deals with presidential disability. Things have gotten so bad that even former MAGA preacher Alex Jones has been calling for congress to plead the 25th.

Reiner points out that at 80, Tr*mp is the oldest American president to serve in office. He’s also one of the most photographed presidents in history. This detail is probably great for Tr*mp’s narcissism, but not so great for all of us who have to look at him all the time—especially since “a variety of his physical ailments are easy to see.”

How about we take this to the next level?

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Are they ever!

As Reiner notes, his client Dick Cheney was unusually forthright about his own heart health struggles during his VP term. And while Tr*mp isn’t under any legal obligation to keep up apprised of his health or lack thereof, it’s not exactly a vote of confidence when every other week there’s a new “dementia face” photo or bruising-on-main incident. It’s not just Tr*mp, either: Reiner includes Mitch McConnell’s lack of transparency about his own health struggles in the mix.

But McConnell’s hedging—however annoying—doesn’t have the direct national implications that Tr*mp’s constant health concerns cause. “He’s had large bruises on both hands, swelling in his legs and episodes when it appears that he is struggling to stay awake,” Reiner writes, referring to the near-endless footage of Tr*mp falling asleep during meetings of state. “He’s also had advanced imaging performed for unclear reasons.”

We all remember that emergency trip to the dentist that took Tr*mp away from the golf course in May that caused Nancy Mace to tweet out a prayer for the president’s health. We still don’t know what was going on there, and Reiner feels we’re entitled to a little illumination on the subject. He lists seven key questions concerning Tr*mp’s recent health evaluations, including whether more “sophisticated” cognitive assessment tests have been performed on the president in the last year. Sadly, he’s not likely to get an answer, and neither are the rest of us.

When asked what prompted Reiner to write the piece at this moment, Reiner simply reiterated that Tr*mp “hasn’t looked well for the past year.”

Again, an understatement. The man has looked like walking death for his entire second term, and the new bruising—to say nothing of the new wig!—doesn’t exactly fill the public with confidence.

“Despite the unparalleled power afforded to the president of the United States, there is no formal requirement for the commander in chief to certify his fitness for duty,” Reiner says. “That’s a mistake.”

We don’t need any convincing. If other high-pressure jobs demand routine health testing, the president shouldn’t be exempt from the same treatment.

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