‘What Beautiful Skin You Have’: The 5 Most Over-the-Top Boasts About Trump’s Health From Prez and His Allies in Bizarre NY Mag Feature

(New York magazine/Evan Vucci/AP photo)

As bruised hands and cankle swelling fuel rampant speculation about President Donald Trump’s health, those he chooses to surround himself with would have you believe he was wrestling alligators or running marathons on weekends.

In a new deep-dive in New York this week, the magazine’s D.C. correspondent Ben Terris sat down with Trump and some members of his team, who at times delivered bizarre, sycophantic defenses of the president’s health.

Here are the five most bonkers brags about the president’s health from the piece, titled, “The Superhuman President: A Good-Faith Attempt to Ascertain the Truth About Donald Trump’s Health.”

1. ‘The Guy Is Too Healthy’ — Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio, President Trump’s secretary of state, had only kind words to say about the president when Terris caught up with him:

“The guy is too healthy,” Marco Rubio said in an interview at the White House. “He’s too active.” Rubio — who in addition to running the State Department is the acting national security adviser and acting archivist of the U.S. — may be one of the busiest men in Washington. On the day I met with him, he was running behind schedule to get to a Capitol Hill briefing with top lawmakers. Still, he took time out of his day to regale me with stories about the president’s “unparalleled” memory and attention to detail.

2. ‘What Beautiful Skin You Have’

Captain Sean Barbabella, Trump’s lead doctor, was asked about the bruising on Trump’s hands, seen most recently at Trump’s Board of Peace signing.

Terris described Trump’s right hand as “warm and soft during our handshake, looked like rhino hide on the back: dry and gray, the notorious bruise spread out like an inkblot test.”

Barbarella, while backing up White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s claim from a while back that Trump’s hand-bruising was caused by frequent handshakes, went a little further to reveal that those around Trump marvel over his skin:

“I’ve seen the president shaking hands for over an hour.” Trump held up his non-shaking hand. “Look, this one’s perfect,” he said. “People say, ‘What beautiful skin you have.’” (The White House said the bruise that appeared on his left hand in Davos was caused by him hitting it against a table corner. Trump also blamed women’s fingernails and rings for the cuts on his right hand, including one particularly nasty “slice” that came from a botched high five with Attorney General Pam Bondi.)

3. “The Headline of Your Story Should Be ‘The Superhuman President”‘

Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, was among those to pepper Terris with stories about Trump’s incredible, if not superhuman, stamina:

Numerous members of his inner circle have clamored to tell me tales of the president’s godlike virility. “He can work harder and he has a better memory and he has more stamina and has more energy than a normal mortal,” deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told me. “The headline of your story should be ‘The Superhuman President.’”

4. Trump Is Healthier Than Obama

The president’s physical health far eclipses that of former President Barack Obama, according to Colonel James Jones, a physician’s assistant in the White House who also worked with the 44th president:

“Who is healthier, Obama or President Trump?” I asked.

Trump stared across the desk, making eye contact with Jones. Jones didn’t hesitate.

“President Trump,” he said.

5. ‘He Looked Like an Athlete’

Trump’s former White House doctor, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) remembered a time when Trump hopped on a treadmill during his first term in the White House:

Texas representative Ronny Jackson, Trump’s former physician, recalled for me the time he put the president on a treadmill during his first term to check his heart health and was “shocked” by what he saw. Trump, wearing gym shorts and a T-shirt (“He looked like an athlete, for the record,” Jackson said), spent about ten minutes walking at a brisk pace on an incline — supposedly achieving what fewer than 10 percent of people his age could.

—

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!