Trump’s health becomes major focus, sparking online conspiracy theories. Some point out the Biden irony

“I think people should give Trump’s health the same attention and energy that they gave Biden’s health,” said Yemisi Egbewole, a former Biden White House official.

After a week of limited public sightings and interaction with the press, conspiracy theories about President Donald Trump‘s health—and potential demise—permeated online, particularly among liberal corners of the internet.

The chatter about the president’s rumored declining health got so loud that Trump, who appeared before the press in the Oval Office on Tuesday to announce a new U.S. Space Command headquarters in Alabama, responded to the hearsay on Truth Social over the Labor Day weekend, writing, “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE.”

Some of the online musings about Trump’s health included a so-called doctor claiming that, based on his observations of Trump’s public sightings, the president suffered from congestive heart failure and predicted he would die in 6-8 months. Meanwhile, a psychic with more than 125,000 followers on TikTok falsely predicted Trump would die on Aug. 28. Over the Labor Day weekend, “Trump dead” was a trending topic on social media.

Standing before the White House press pool, Trump on Tuesday called the rumors about his health “fake news,” adding, “That’s why the media has so little credibility.”

However, concerns about Trump’s health have not come out of nowhere. In July, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged visible signs of health ailments, including swelling in his lower legs and bruising on the back of his hand.

The Trump spokesperson told reporters that the swellings in the president’s legs were the result of chronic venous insufficiency, which she described as a “benign and common condition” for individuals over the age of 70. Trump is 79. Leavitt shared that the president was evaluated by the White House medical staff and underwent a “comprehensive examination,” including diagnostic vascular studies. The White House said there were no signs of heart failure, renal impairment, or systemic illness.

In recent weeks, President Trump has been seen covering his bruised hand. Despite the visible bruising, Leavitt told reporters that it was “minor soft tissue irritation from frequent hand shaking and the use of aspirin” that Trump takes as part of a “standard cardiovascular prevention regimen.”

Despite the insistence that President Trump is in “excellent health,” Yemisi Egbewole, former Biden chief of staff to the White House press office, told theGrio that she does not believe the Trump White House would be transparent to the public.

“I don’t believe that they have shown transparency in good faith before, and I don’t expect it to start now with something so personal as the President’s health,” said the political analyst.

Egbewole also sees irony in the chatter about Trump’s health, given how much he and the MAGA world politicized former President Joe Biden’s age. This was also fueled by Biden’s slow speech and occasional stumbling of words—particularly during his infamous 2024 presidential debate against Trump, which ultimately resulted in Biden dropping out of the race.

“I think people should give Trump’s health the same attention and energy that they gave Biden’s health,” said Egbewole. “If we could sit with the conversation on Biden’s health, we should be able to sit with the conversation on Trump’s health.”

Egbewole admits that the Biden White House could have been “more transparent” about President Biden’s health, and pointed to a broader issue that both political parties must soberly face.

“If you keep running candidates at this age, health is going to be the conversation first, and then policy; it completely distracts,” she told theGrio.

Egbewole highlighted the retirement of New York Congressman Jerry Nadler, who announced on Monday he would not seek re-election after more than 30 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. She noted that Nadler, who cited the 2024 controversy over Biden’s age, likely realized that running for re-election would’ve put all of the campaign’s focus on his age and not his record as a congressman and former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

“It’ll just be [his] age, and then [he] will leave Congress having just been the guy who didn’t know when to step aside,” she said.

Shaniqua McClendon, vice president of political strategy at Crooked Media, told theGrio, “Trump is not held to the same political rules as everyone else, so his base will excuse what they condemned in Biden.” She added, “But the thing is, you can’t spin your way out of aging or death.”

Whether or not Trump is actually concealing an illness or declining health, McClendon said she is more concerned about “the danger of what comes after.” She explained, “If Trump becomes incapacitated or dies, we’re left with [Vice President] JD Vance, someone who lacks Trump’s charisma but makes up for it with calculated ambition.”