WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Dr. Mehmet Oz helped President Donald Trump sit down before an executive order signing at the launch of America.gov.
- Video of the moment prompted mockery and speculation on X about Trump’s health and right leg.
- The White House responded to questions by attacking the reports rather than explaining the incident.
- Trump also used a throw pillow for support while sitting beside French President Emmanuel Macron.
President Donald Trump sparked another burst of speculation about his health after Dr. Mehmet Oz helped him perform the basic task of sitting down. The moment unfolded Tuesday as Trump, 80, prepared to sign an executive order.
Trump had just delivered remarks at the launch of America.gov, a new website powered by AI. The site promises to provide Americans with “simple answers only from official government sources.”
Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, stepped in as the president moved toward his chair. Trump was preparing to sign an order “streamlining access to government services through America.gov.”
A video clip showing Oz assisting the geriatric president quickly circulated across social media. X users responded with mockery, questions about Trump’s physical condition and theories about why he appeared to need help.
One user whose post received thousands of likes wrote, “Have you ever sat down in a diaper full of s–t? No. Most of us haven’t.” Other users piled on with similar diaper jokes aimed at the aging president.
Some commenters focused instead on Trump’s right leg. Users wondered whether he might be wearing a brace or whether he had torn his ACL, although the source provided no confirmation for either theory.
Another user skipped the medical guesswork and went directly to a constitutional demand, writing, “#25thAmendmentNow.” The amendment establishes succession rules for circumstances in which a sitting president cannot perform the duties of the office.
When contacted for comment, the White House did not address the images or the questions they generated. Instead, spokesperson Davis Ingle delivered a lengthy attack on the Daily Beast.
“The Daily Beast is a mentally challenged, lightweight operation that constantly peddles baseless and deranged conspiracy theories about President Trump and his Administration – which is why no one should listen to them. Hopefully the idiots who work there will eventually be able to get themselves real jobs,” Ingle said.
Ingle, 32, is a communications graduate of Southeastern University in Florida, where his father, Kent Ingle, serves as president. The university says more than two thirds of its students attend online or through extension courses at 200 “partner sites,” which are not required to be accredited.
The sitting incident arrives amid continuing concern about Trump’s health and public appearances. Trump is the oldest person ever inaugurated as U.S. president, and questions have followed his chronically bruised hands, swollen ankles, mental flubs and public bouts of drowsiness.
The president also previously drew attention when he used an extra cushion to support himself on a sinking sofa during a senior meeting. That moment resurfaced in a video shared Tuesday morning on X by French President Emmanuel Macron.
In the footage, Trump points Macron toward the couch and says, “You can sit right there.” Trump then grabs a throw pillow and places it beneath himself before sitting next to his French counterpart.
“I’m good,” Trump replies before dropping onto the pillow. His knees are elevated at what appeared to be a noticeably more optimal angle, adding another visual detail for viewers already scrutinizing his physical condition.
Taken together, the chair assistance and cushion maneuver gave social media users fresh material to debate Trump’s health. The White House, meanwhile, answered the latest questions by attacking the news organization that asked them rather than offering an explanation for what viewers saw.
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