White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt flew into a rage against The New York Times while doing damage control over 79-year-old President Donald Trump’s diminishing schedule.
On Nov. 15, the Times reported that the president has scaled back his official appearances by 39 percent—from 1,688 during the first 10 months of his first term to 1,029 this year. Their analysis found that Trump now starts his days far later than he did in his first term, with official events typically beginning after midday rather than at 10:30 a.m.
But Leavitt was having none of it.
The 28-year-old press secretary slammed the “fake news story” as “unequivocally false” at the end of Monday afternoon’s White House briefing.
“I want to point out one fake news story over the weekend before I let you all go,” Leavitt told the press corps, referencing the Times article.
To cement her point, she held up an article titled “Biden is ‘doing 100 percent fine’ after tripping while boarding Air Force One.”
“It’s deeply unfortunate that the story was written by the same outlet and the same reporter who wrote this,” Leavitt said.
As the Times also noted, Trump and his team often deflect questions about his age by criticizing former President Joe Biden, who at 82 was the oldest president in U.S. history and whose cognitive decline aides worked to obscure. Trump, however, will surpass that record when he finishes his term at 82.
“[Trump] is the most accessible president,” Leavitt insisted Monday. “He is taking meetings around the clock.”
The same day Leavitt defended the president’s cognitive health, she finally revealed that Trump had a “preventative” MRI last month to look at his heart and abdomen.
When asked about the MRI at the beginning of November, Leavitt said she would have to check why it was done. More than a week later, Trump claimed he had no idea why he had needed the MRI.
Leavitt said it was being released in an “effort of transparency.”
Leavitt wasn’t the only one who was furious over the Times report. Trump raged at the outlet and insulted the reporter in a scathing Truth Social tirade last week.
“The Radical Left Lunatics in the soon to fold New York Times did a hit piece on me that I am perhaps losing my Energy…,” Trump wrote, before attacking the reporter personally: “The writer of the story, Katie Rogers… is a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.”
He went on to boast about his “highest Poll Numbers, ever,” despite reports surfacing on the same day that revealed his approval rating was underwater with every major pollster for the first time.
“There will be a day when I run low on Energy… but with a PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (‘That was aced’) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN, it certainly is not now!”
The Times’ investigation comes after months of Daily Beast reporting on the president’s diminished state. It also comes as Trump faces intensifying scrutiny over his fitness for office, particularly after multiple incidents where he has appeared to nod off during public appearances.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
In a previous statement, Leavitt said, “Unlike the Biden White House, who covered up Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and hid him from the press, President Trump and his entire team have been open and transparent about the president’s health, which remains exceptional.”
“President Trump’s physician has released two detailed reports… and anyone who watches President Trump in his daily public events can clearly see he is in impressive physical and mental shape, with an unrelenting work ethic.”
The details of Trump’s MRI came via a memo from Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, which read: “As part of President Donald J. Trump’s comprehensive executive physical, advanced imaging was performed because men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health.”
Barbabella went on to say that the president’s cardiovascular imaging was “perfectly normal,” that there was “no evidence of arterial narrowing impairing blood flow or abnormalities in the heart or major vessels” and that Trump’s cardiovascular system shows “excellent health.”
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