Donald Trump Jr. called his father “to make sure” the death rumors circulating online weren’t true.
On Wednesday, Trump Jr. admitted to Newsmax host Bianca de la Garz that he was worried after his 79-year-old father mysteriously disappeared from the public eye over Labor Day weekend.
“I called my father over the weekend and be like, ‘Hey, just want to make sure you’re not dead,’” the president’s 47-year-old son recalled. “‘I know my daughter’s playing golf with you as we speak, you know, I keep reading about it on Twitter, so I just want to make sure.’ [He] didn’t even know what I was talking about.”
However, the president didn’t mention his son’s call when he was confronted about the viral rumor by Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy during a press conference on Tuesday.
“How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?” asked Doocy in the Oval Office. Trump stared at Doocy blankly. “Did you see that?” Doocy asked. “No,” Trump replied.
“People didn’t see you for a couple days, 1.3 million user engagements as of Saturday morning about your demise,” he informed the president.
“Really? I didn’t see that,” Trump said before immediately pivoting. “I have heard, it’s sort of crazy, but last week, I did numerous news conferences, all successful.”
“I didn’t do any for two days, and they said there must be something wrong with him,” Trump complained. Trump then amended his earlier claims, “I was very active this Labor Day. I had heard that, but I didn’t hear it to this extent.”
Trump’s health has been the cause for speculation as the White House has failed to satisfactorily explain his heavily bruised hands, swollen ankles, stumbling gait, and incoherent rants.
Amid the death rumors, Trump posted an outdated photo of himself and disgraced NFL coach Jon Gruden, captioned “Great playing Golf with Jon Gruden — A really nice guy, and true character!” during a golf outing that took place Aug. 23, a week before Trump posted the photo. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for further comment.
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