Donald Trump Lashes Out Over Medical Issues — But The People He’s Accusing Didn’t Say That
Donald Trump is reportedly angry at a reporter for saying he has Parkinson’s Disease. The problem with this is that she never said any such thing. He’s also expressed anger over a new book that describes Vice President Mike Pence as preparing to take over if something happened to the president. “There were no mini-strokes,” the president tweeted. Again, it’s a diagnosis that didn’t happen — the author of the book never mentions strokes at all.
The public has speculated wildly on Donald Trump’s medical state, watching videos of his walk for signs of his leg dragging, and guessing at what could cause him to appear to struggle in raising a glass of water with one hand. A photo of Trump was zoomed in for speculation on whether a purple mark on his hand was actually an IV bruise. It’s been reported that one author says he’s received whistleblower reports that Trump had a series of mini-strokes. There’s no question that the president’s health, and leaked information about the same, have received a lot of attention.
However, covering leaks and behavior isn’t diagnosing a medical condition, as the president seems to think two specific entities have done.
According to Political Flare, Trump is accusing New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman of saying that he suffers from Parkinson’s disease. Haberman did write about Trump’s difficulty traversing a ramp, and about him struggling to drink from a glass. However, she never speculated on the specific cause.
So the president is denying something that no one has actually reported – that he had a series of mini-strokes. https://t.co/GcatJopYV9
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 1, 2020
Haberman also called out Trump’s accusation against her colleague.
After NYT reporter Michael S. Schmidt’s Donald Trump v. The United States was published, Trump lashed out at the author, complaining at the accusation that he had been rushed to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a series of mini-strokes, causing VP Pence to be put on notice that, as next in the line of succession, he could have to take over the president’s role.
Mike Pence was never put on standby, & there were no mini-strokes. This is just more Fake News by @CNN, a phony story. The reason for the visit to Walter Reed, together with the full press pool, was to complete my yearly physical. Short visit, then returned (with press) to W.H… https://t.co/GUVdbJRvqD
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 2, 2020
The author himself had already tweeted the day before the book was published, correcting some misinformation that was circulating on social media and making it very clear that the book makes no diagnoses, merely discusses Mike Pence being put on standby to temporarily take over if the president needed anesthesia.
The book says nothing about a “cerebral event.” It just says that Pence was on standby if they needed to anesthetize Trump for a procedure.
— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) August 31, 2020
He again corrected the record after Trump’s erroneous tweet.
Book says nothing about mini-strokes. https://t.co/XGfJEMsORu
— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) September 1, 2020
Donald Trump’s actions and health have indeed been the subject of much speculation. It’s entirely false that either of the reporters Trump has fixated on publicly diagnosed him with either Parkinson’s Disease or mini-strokes.