Donald Trump did it to himself
When the news broke last night that Donald Trump’s late-2019 Walter Reed visit was for a serious but unspecified health emergency, it was going to get some coverage in today’s news cycle. But, as was the case with the original news of Trump’s Walter Reed visit to begin with, the media and thus the public would likely have quickly moved on to the next scandal or controversy.
Then Trump went and tweeted an oddly specific denial today insisting that he did not have a “series of mini-strokes.” To be clear, no one was even reporting this. It was the equivalent of a police officer pulling you over without telling you why, and you immediately blurting out “Officer, there is not a body in my trunk.” Trump just ensured that the next few news cycles will focus heavily on the question of whether Trump had one or more strokes. As a direct result of Trump’s tweet, even the far-right Drudge Report now has a front and center headline about Trump and strokes, complete with a recent picture of Trump losing his balance.
There are still those who believe that every weird move Trump makes is part of his secret evil genius plan to strategically distract us. But that theory falls apart when you consider that these headlines about Trump having had a stroke are the very worst possible narrative for him. When voters in the middle hear a story about a sitting President having had a stroke, they start thinking about voting for the other guy. Trump may have just knocked a point or two off his poll numbers with this tweet.
So why do something so stupid? One explanation is that Donald Trump is so worried and angry about the news of his mini-strokes leaking out, he panicked and posted this oddly specific tweet without realizing or caring how it would only make things worse for him. Another explanation is that Trump and/or his handlers don’t expect him to win, and they do expect him to be indicted after he loses, so they’re admitting to his mini strokes because they’re already trying to gain sympathy with the eventual jury.
