Out of nowhere today, Donald Trump denied that he had a “series of mini strokes” months ago that resulted in him visiting Walter Reed hospital.
“It never ends! Now they are trying to say that your favorite President, me, went to Walter Reed Medical Center, having suffered a series of mini-strokes,” Trump tweeted. “Never happened to THIS candidate – FAKE NEWS. Perhaps they are referring to another candidate from another Party!” he added, pointing to Joe Biden.
Biden has never suggested Trump had mini-strokes.
It was reported last year that Trump made an unscheduled trip to a hospital, with only the White House’s questionable claim it was for routine tests.
Today it emerged that Vice President Pence was placed on standby to assume command of government, suggesting at a minimum that Trump was or might become briefly incapacitated.
In response, conservative blogging legend Matt Drudge put it on blast, insinuating Trump had a mini-stroke and is suffering from symptoms consistent with a stroke victim’s.
“TRUMP DENIES MINI-STROKE SENT HIM TO HOSPITAL”, blared his headline under a collage of photos showing Trump looking ungainly. “VIDEO: DRAGGING RIGHT LEG”
The first sentence linked to coverage of the Pence report, which quoted Trump denying he had suffered a mini stroke.
But the second link went to a video where Trump is having trouble moving his foot.
This all drew renewed attention to Trump’s recent lack of physical grace, especially to his unsteady walk down a ramp and an abandoned attempt to sip from a glass of water.
For Drudge, it was a sharp turn from the health questions he raised about Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Some said online that Drudge’s adversarial reporting on Trump is not a good sign for the GOP in 2020.
Not a good look for President Trump today from Drudge Report. That’s gotta hurt. @POTUS @DRUDGE pic.twitter.com/7nd5mAJxxq
— Clint Henderson (@ClintPHenderson) September 1, 2020
Shortly before 3 p.m. on Nov. 16 last year, Trump arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
The White House pool reporter on duty described the president as leaving the White House a half-hour earlier, “wearing a long dark overcoat and carrying what looked like a tan rectangle-shaped folder or envelope under his arm.”
Until the presidential motorcade arrived at the hospital, though, news of Trump’s departure wasn’t reportable.
And with that, a mystery was born.
Trump was there for about two hours, arriving at 2:47 p.m. and leaving at 5:03 p.m.
When the president arrived, his press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, told reporters that Trump was “taking advantage of a free weekend” to “begin portions of his routine annual physical exam.”
He did not go back for the second part of his physical.
There was no report released after his November visit, as there had been the preceding February.
In June, Trump’s team did produce a memo memorializing the president’s health, including an assertion that the president had completed his physical at the White House.
That report came at a useful time, politically: Trump’s halting walk down a ramp at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point earlier in the month raised questions about his health and fortitude.
Trump is the oldest person to serve as president.