The White House has tried to downplay the emergence of a bruise on President Donald Trump’s left hand with the same excuse it offers for the one on his right.
Concerns have been raised about the health of the 79-year-old president, who has frequently been spotted with a large, dark bruise on his right hand, which is often smeared with makeup in an attempt to hide it.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has repeatedly claimed the unsightly marks are because Trump “meets more Americans and shakes their hands on a daily basis than any other president in history.”
But a new, smaller bruise was spotted on Trump’s left hand over the weekend as he played golf with former Major League Baseball player Roger Clemens and his son Kacy at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia on Saturday.
A video posted jointly on Instagram by the father and son shows Trump did not bother to cover the mark with poorly matched concealer, unlike the ones on his right hand.
When approached for comment by the Daily Beast, Leavitt stuck to the line that Trump got the bruise from frequent handshaking. However, Trump is right-handed, and uses that hand to shake, not his left.
The White House did not immediately respond to a follow-up request for comment on whether Trump has somehow received the same handshaking bruise on both hands.
Trump is also going to greater lengths to shield his bruises from public view. On Monday morning, while signing executive orders in the Oval Office, he kept using his left hand to cover his right. The bruise was still clearly visible at other times, with no makeup to disguise its worrying size and color.
In July, the White House confirmed Trump, who is on course to become the oldest sitting U.S. president in history, had been diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency.
The condition, common in people over 70, means veins struggle to pump blood from the legs back to the heart, leading to the type of swollen cankles Trump has also been trying to conceal in public.
During a July press briefing, Leavitt read a memo from Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, which acknowledged the president had shown “some minor bruising” on the back of his hand and also attributed it to his taking of aspirin, which thins the blood.
“This is consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin, which is taken as part of a standard cardiovascular prevention regime,” the memo said.
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