Drudge Adds Fuel to Rumors Trump Had ‘Mini-Stroke,’ After President and White House Furiously Deny
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Influential conservative website The Drudge Report prominently featured a headline on President Donald Trump’s health Tuesday, as the president lashes out over online rumors that he had a stroke last year.
On Tuesday, Trump railed against the “fake news” on Twitter, declaring “Now they are trying to say that your favorite President, me, went to Walter Reed Medical Center, having suffered a series of mini-strokes. Never happened to THIS candidate.”
This appears to be a reaction to an upcoming book by New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt, which provides new reporting on Trump’s surprise visit last year to Walter Reed Medical Center.
Schmidt noted his book contains no mention of strokes or mini-strokes, though it does say Vice President Mike Pence was put on standby to temporarily assume the powers of the presidency if Trump had to be anesthetized. Rumors of a stroke seemed to be floated by commentators online as opposed to any legitimate news source. Hours after Trump’s tweet, Physician to the President Dr. Sean P. Conley insisted the president “has not experienced nor been evaluated for a cerebrovascular accident (stroke), transient ischemic attack (mini stroke), or any acute cardiovascular emergencies, as have been incorrectly reported in the media.”
As Trump’s tweet and the White House’s denial of the rumor fueled the fire, the story became a leading news item on Matt Drudge’s website, along with a video of Trump awkwardly moving his leg during a visit to a laboratory in North Carolina.
The Drudge Report frequently boosted Trump during the 2016 election, and called into question Hillary Clinton’s health. Conservatives have recently criticized the influential but elusive news maker for his blunt and at time critical coverage of Trump. The break between Drudge and Trump came to a head earlier this year when Trump claimed Drudge’s online traffic was nosediving, and Drudge offered a rare, public retort: “The past 30 days has been the most eyeballs in Drudge Report’s 26 year-history.”
The eye popping banner at the top of The Drudge Report Tuesday stunned many reporters, many of whom noted Trump in 2020 was getting the Hillary Clinton treatment of 2016.
https://twitter.com/JonLemire/status/1300854941540659204
