California Gov. Gavin Newsom is testing 79-year-old President Donald Trump’s claim that discussing his rapidly deteriorating physical health may constitute a high crime.
“After all the work I have done with Medical Exams, Cognitive Exams, and everything else, I actually believe it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean ‘THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES’,” the president wrote on Truth Social in a lengthy post.
The nearly 500-word post listed a string of far-fetched claims that the president argued should convince the public he is at the top of his game, from supposedly working the “longest” hours ever to, as he put it, creating an “‘aura’ around the United States” that has earned worldwide respect.
But not even the president’s declaration that “we should do something” about the “treasonous” questions over his health was enough to stop the mockery.
“Donald Trump is in poor physical health,” Newsom immediately shot back on X.
The president’s initial post came in response to a Monday op-ed in The New York Times in which journalist Frank Bruni argued Trump’s “approval ratings have declined in recent months, and so, by the looks of things, has his vigor.”
A late November poll by Gallup put the president’s approval ratings at 36 percent, marking the lowest point of his second term following a steady decline since he took office again in January, and only two points above his all-time low of 34 percent in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot in 2021.
Concerns are piling up over the state of the president’s physical health as he exhibits symptoms such as visible swelling in his legs, attributed by the White House to a chronic venous condition common in men of his age, along with mysterious bruising on his right hand and a growing habit of falling asleep at official meetings.
In October, he attended the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for what was confusingly billed as a second “annual” physical following his first earlier in April. It was later revealed to have been for an MRI to check his “cardiovascular and abdominal health,” according to the White House. The president himself had told reporters he had “no idea” what the scan was for.
Pundits and mental health experts have also sounded the alarm over increasing signs of a decline in the president’s cognitive state, following a spate of public appearances where he’s seemed to suffer from memory lapses, verbal incoherence, and repeated confusion.
Dr. John Gartner, a former professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins, told The Daily Beast Podcast last month these would appear to represent “clinical signs of dementia,” in turn exacerbating what he believes to be the president’s underlying “malignant” personality disorder.
“Whatever personality issues or problems [people with dementia] have begin to deteriorate and they become even more crude, disorganized, aggressive, confused versions of that personality disorder,” Gartner said.
Trump’s bouts of confused aggression have indeed fueled headlines lately, such as when he told a female journalist to be “quiet, piggy,” called for Democratic lawmakers to be executed and, only on Monday, claimed media coverage of his declining health by “horrible, biased, and untruthful” outlets may no longer be covered by the First Amendment.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
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