Tr*mp “dementia face” photo sparks even deeper health questions

Over the weekend, Tr*mp bragged about his perfect health after releasing the results of his semi-annual exam. But those results were still pretty questionable. Former White House MD Jonathan Reiner has already debunked certain more PR-friendly aspects of the report and filled in the blanks on many of Tr*mp’s false claims.

The “IQ test” he bragged about aceing? According to Reiner, it’s actually a dementia screening tool, not an intelligence test. And exactly why is Tr*mp having several corollary CT scans per year when you’re only meant to have one preventative scan every 12 months?

To make matters even worse, a new viral photo has captured public attention once more, with viewers claiming it’s a sign of Tr*mp’s cognitive decline.

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Now, even in light of the exam results, people are asking serious questions. As in: what’s going on with Tr*mp’s face, and how is this the look of a healthy man?

But as usual, there’s more to the story.

As TikToker David Pakman explains (and as should be apparent) you can’t diagnose a person from a photo, and that’s definitely not what we should be doing right now.

True, there is such a thing as “dementia face,” which occurs when an older person becomes unable to control the muscles that keep their mouth closed, leading to a sagging appearance that can, in some cases, present as a symptom of the disease.

While the photo certainly isn’t pretty, and we do know that the White House isn’t above presenting us with what Pakman calls “propaganda” about the President’s health, we also don’t know the full story. It could just be another deeply unflattering photo of the aging reality-TV-star-turned-president.

It’s not about what the photo may or may not suggest in terms of Tr*mp’s health, Pakman explains. It’s that the photo “poses a political problem” for Tr*mp and the White House amid increased speculation about just how fit this very visibly aging man is to make chaotic decisions about the fate of the country.

Tr*mp knows that in politics, sickness is viewed as weakness. He himself preyed on similar ableist (and ageist) assumptions to sow doubt about Joe Biden’s fitness to lead when he was in office. Now, it seems that karma is coming back around to hit Tr*mp where it hurts.

Tr*mp’s White House is learning that issuing a PR release about the president’s “perfect health” isn’t going to stop people from asking questions about what’s right in front of them. And those questions could go a long way toward eroding whatever political trust Republicans have left in Tr*mp.

To be fair, with or without the ongoing health questions, Republicans would still be questioning their leader’s increasingly poor choices, especially in light of so many public, let them eat cake optics presented by the (now dead) slush fund, Tr*mp’s ballroom obsession, and his decision to let UFC build a giant steel cage on the White House lawn.

“If this were the first weird image… first question about Tr*mp’s health,” Pakman says, “nobody would really care. But that’s not what’s going on.”

Not by a long shot. We’ve got the mysterious hand bruise, the swelling ankles, the nasty neck rash, and the tendency to doze off in the middle of meetings. Added up, it’s not a pretty picture, and it might be enough to force Republicans to make a choice: stand up to Tr*mp in the next few months and suffer the temporary consequences, or follow their leader to the grave.

Related

Former White House doctor calls BS on Tr*mp’s questionable dementia results
Hmmmm…

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