November 16, 2019 was sunny and warm in Washington DC–perfect for golf. But President Trump didn’t hit the links that Saturday. Instead, at around 2 pm, he was abruptly hustled into an armored Chevrolet SUV and driven to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
POTUS health. WH says Saturday trip to hospital was “routine” & he’s “fine” despite break from past practices. Here is glimpse of Pres Trump and what appears to be WH physician Sean Conley getting into motorcade. Watch. (h/t @WinstonNBC) pic.twitter.com/8ZynFF2ytQ
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) November 17, 2019
The White House portrayed this as normal, with then press secretary Stephanie Grisham issuing a statement that Trump was simply being proactive about his health in anticipation of a very demanding election ahead. This was met with widespread skepticism for a plethora of reasons, including Trump’s well-established distaste for doctors, its absence on the president’s schedule, and the press being forbidden to report on his movements prior to arrival at the hospital, that the medical staff at Walter Reed wasn’t notified of his visit in advance, and that it was a break with Trump’s normal weekend activities. Additionally, Trump had used his Marine-One helicopter for prior visits to Walter Reed. One possible advantage of traveling by car was that the presidential motorcade comes equipped with an ambulance.
The following Monday, the president’s doctor, Sean Conley, released a memorandum claiming that “scheduling uncertainties” explained why the trip seemed to be spur of the moment, it had in fact been “part of the regular, primary preventative care he receives throughout the year.” He called it an “interim checkup,” which would be followed up with a “more comprehensive examination” in 2020.
This made no sense at all, which many doctors were quick to point out.
Several medical experts have questioned why Trump would begin his annual physical in November, just nine months after his last exam, and not complete it until 2020. Leaving a months-long gap between beginning and completing the exam is unusual and potentially counterproductive, said [cardiologist John] Sotos, who has served as a physician for the Air National Guard.
“When they complete the physical in six months, the information they got on Saturday would be six months old,” he said. “I haven’t seen such a thing by presidents in the recent past.”
The trip to Bethesda made much more sense if Trump had been experiencing a medical scare, like chest pains or symptoms of a stroke. It had to be something that the White House medical staff’s facilities were ill-equipped to handle, and that could only be something rather serious.
But Dr. Conley’s memo assured the public that this was not the case:
“Despite some speculation, the President has not had any chest pain, nor was he evaluated or treated for any urgent or acute issues,” Conley wrote in the memo. “Specifically, he did not undergo any specialized cardiac or neurologic evaluations.”
As Aaron Rupar of Vox reported at the time, “there would likely be fewer questions surrounding Trump’s health if the White House hadn’t long established a reputation for lying about everything,” but I’m not sure that’s true. I don’t believe any president would have been believed when presenting the public with such a nonsensical explanation.
There are additional things we’ve learned about this hospital visit since last November. For example, we knew it wasn’t on Trump’s public schedule, but now we know it wasn’t on his private, internal schedule either. What’s more, a forthcoming book by New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt claims that Vice President Mike Pence was notified that afternoon that he should be prepared to assume the powers of the presidency on a temporary basis if Trump required general anesthesia. That’s not consistent with Trump getting routine preventative care.
It might seem that there are more important concerns about Trump’s fitness to be president than the status of his physical health. But it’s important to know if any candidate for the presidency has medical concerns that could affect their ability to do the job. What’s more, Trump applied this standard to Hillary Clinton in 2016 when she fell ill and had difficulty walking after attending a 9/11 memorial service in Manhattan. Trump and his surrogates have obsessively raised questions about Joe Biden’s health and stamina. On Sunday, Donald Trump Jr. continued in his vein while appearing on Mark Levin’s show, “Life, Liberty & Levin.”
The mainstream media has largely avoided coverage of Joe Biden’s health and fitness for office, but the question remains whether he possesses the physical and mental capacity to hold the most powerful office in the land, Donald Trump Jr. said Sunday.
“You see how draining this job is on people. I mean, Joe Biden refuses to campaign. He’s not even doing Zoom calls. He’s staying in his basement.”
…Trump wondered, “Is it that he can’t do it or is it that he’s just not physically able?”
This could be a case of “the best defense is a good offense,” where the president’s infirmities are covered over by focusing on Biden. Videos show Trump seeming to have trouble drinking water, and his impaired coordination was on full display when he had trouble walking down a slight incline in June following his commencement address at West Point
It’s only fair for the press to focus on the Walter Reed visit as they repeat Trump’s unfounded accusations about Biden’s health. We don’t know why Trump was whisked off that day, but we know Mike Pence was ready to assume the powers of the presidency. If there’s a next time, perhaps Pence actually will assume those powers, and that’s a prospect voters should consider.
A facebook friend is always checking Trump’s movements out. She thinks sometime in the recent past he had a small stroke and that explains some of his movements and the way he hangs on and leans on the podium and his occasional slurred speech. Who knows? But yesterday I was thinking the right side of his face had too much red make up on it. We may never know the answer and to be honest I would have dismissed her speculation but she is a psychologist. And now there is this story. Very interesting but…….
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His right side seems to be impaired, if one can go by recent videos of his walking gait and loss of balance when climbing stairs. His psychological unfitness for office is demonstrated every time he tweets but now it seems there are also issues with his physical health.
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The whole inability to walk at full gait, hold a glass of water with one hand, and slurred speech makes it seem like maybe a small stroke.
We’ll never know unless someone leaks it, and even then it can be dismissed by everyone including Trump.
I’m not sure it really matters, unless it turns into an October surprise. Anyone who has a stroke is at increased risk of further strokes.
And with Trump’s volunteering what many will see as an admission of having experienced a series of mini-strokes on Twitter (based on the assumption that whatever Trump says, the opposite is true), even more people will be wondering. If he wanted to make some unflattering passages in a book just go away, all he had to do was have the discipline to remain silent. Instead, he goes on to complain about reporting he’d experienced a specific medical event when such reporting apparently was not happening. Another example of the Streisand Effect in action. Drudge was on it. All sorts of hashtags trended on Twitter (including Strokeahontas). He just gave the story of his own failing medical condition more oxygen.
Semi-relevant aside: do you know what makes COVID-19 a heck of a lot worse – vascular components. People formally having no vascular issues end up with severe ones post COVID-19, people with vascular issues have a worse recovery and a harder time post recovery. President “no stroke, you’re the stroke” should be considered
Concerned, not considered
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