BURSTPresident Trump on Tuesday responded to the social media frenzy over the weekend about his health when asked by Fox News’s Peter Doocy about reports he had died.
Doocy asked Trump if he saw over the weekend that he was dead and replied, “no.”
He said that he didn’t see speculation swirling on social media that he was having health problems. But, while defending his activity over Labor Day weekend, he said that he had heard about chatter surrounding his health.
“I have heard, it’s sort of crazy. But last week I did numerous news conferences. All successful, they went very well, like this is going very well and then I didn’t do any for two days and they said, ‘there must be something wrong with him,’” Trump said.
“Biden wouldn’t do them for months, you wouldn’t see them, and nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him and he wasn’t in the greatest of shape,” he added, as Vice President Vance and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) laughed beside him.
Trump noted that he did a long interview with The Daily Caller, did “numerous shows” and posted on Truth Social over the weekend.
“No, I was very active over the weekend. They also knew I went out to visit some people at the club that I own pretty nearby on the Potomac River. No, I’ve been very active, actually, over the weekend. I didn’t hear that one. That’s pretty serious stuff,” Trump said.
He called it “fake news” and said it points to why “the media has so little credibility.”
“I knew they were saying like, is he okay? How’s he feeling? What’s wrong,” Trump said. “No, I was very active this Labor Day. I had heard that but I didn’t hear it to that extent.”
The president took a week-long break from public appearances, following a marathon Cabinet meeting last Tuesday. His speech on Tuesday in the Oval Office follows sightings from press pool on Saturday, Sunday and Monday at his golf club in Sterling, Va.
The lack of interactions with the press led social media users to question if he had died or if he had physically declined, focusing on the appearance of his bruised hands. The White House announced earlier this year that Trump suffered from chronic venous insufficiency, which is a condition that causes swelling in the legs and noticeable bruising on the hands.