‘We’ve Never Seen the President Like That’: CNN Medical Analyst Calls Trump’s ‘Manic’ White House Speech ‘Very Disturbing’

CNN’s Jonathan Reiner said he was profoundly disturbed by President Donald Trump’s White House address this week.

Trump gave a nearly 20-minute speech on Wednesday night in which he rehashed many of his previous talking points about the economy and immigration, while also disparaging his predecessor multiple times. While the content of the speech was nothing new, the president spoke in a loud and halting tone that prompted social media users to question whether there is something that is newly wrong with him.

According to Reiner, a cardiologist and professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, the answer appears to be yes.

On Thursday’s edition of The Lead, host Jake Tapper read some posts from Reiner the previous night. The doctor posted, “I’m seriously concerned about the health of the president,” and also, “No one should be happy to see the president like this. He looks unwell.”

“Dr. Reiner, what specifically was it about President Trump that you found so concerning watching him last night?” Tapper asked. “Especially in the context of, you know, he gives outrageous speeches and has been for years.”

Reiner replied that Trump had a “manic cadence” that was “very disturbing”:

Well, it wasn’t the content. I thought the content was just standard fare that we’ve become accustomed to. But it was the way it was delivered. It was delivered with a manic cadence, almost a frantic cadence. It was as if you felt like you were listening to a podcast on 2x. And that kind of manic delivery was very, very disturbing. Very pressurized speech.

And as the address went on, his cadence of his remarks became quicker. And we’ve never seen the president like that. He seemed almost frantic. And it was disturbing to watch. It was disturbing because he’s the commander-in -chief. He’s not just the head of the government. He’s the commander in chief of the greatest armed forces this world has ever seen. And it was disturbing to see him with such an almost uncontrolled cadence.

Tapper responded by pointing to a video of Trump from earlier in the day in which the president again appeared to have difficulty keeping his eyes open. Reiner responded:

So, he’s done this several times now in the last few weeks. He’s fallen asleep in a crowded Oval Office. And he’s also fallen asleep at cabinet meetings with people talking directly to him. And that’s what’s called increased daytime somnolence. And there are a lot of things that can do that. Sometimes people with sleep apnea, people who wake up many times during the night and don’t get restorative sleep have that. That’s treated typically with CPAP or CPAP mask. We’ve never been told the president has sleep apnea. So, but it’s jarring to see the president go from basically asleep in the Oval Office to, you know, really this rapid-fire pace during basically a 30 minute speech that he gave in 18 minutes.

Reiner reiterated his point that “no one should be happy to see that,” and added that the White House should be “more forthcoming” about Trump’s conditions, which include a bruised hand and swollen ankles.

Watch above via CNN.