
While the Department of Justice is in a fight with Trump faithful over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, one former White House reporter believes that the president’s health is declining and points to several examples of not only mental confusion but also physical deficiencies.
Columnist Brian Karem, who used to cover the president for Playboy, wrote a piece for Salon that notes that the pressure from Trump’s MAGA followers on the release of Epstein documents might be affecting his health.
Kareem writes, “on Tuesday, Trump issued a rambling statement in an attempt to defend Attorney General Pam Bondi’s lack of action on the Epstein files. He stressed her credibility, but he sounded as if he were stringing together random sentences culled from private briefings, without any concern or knowledge that they made sense.”
Kareem added, “he’s not as sharp now as he was in his first administration.”
The columnist pointed out that the 79-year-old president’s physical ailments have been visible.
“Still, Trump in his first term was better for two reasons: He was more cogent and never left the house without a properly-worn necktie. Today, he can barely get out a sentence without babbling,” he wrote before adding, “He constantly demands to be the center of attention in his own production, on stage as well as off. But the recent pictures of swollen ankles — as well as his poor posture, bad gait, unexplained anger, extreme lethargy and deepening addiction to gibberish — are causing the show to falter.”
Kareem believes that the reported attempt on the president’s life has had lasting effects that could be to blame for his drop in mental clarity.
“These are symptoms exhibited by traumatized shooting victims and are, I am told by several doctors, exacerbated by Trump’s age,” he added. “If you believe Biden slid into senility during his tenure in office, then Trump has plunged into it. During a Wednesday gaggle in the Oval Office, Trump said he was surprised Jerome Powell was appointed as chair of the Federal Reserve — apparently unaware that he had nominated Powell in 2017.”
Kareem’s column comes on the heels of the White House admission that the president is suffering from chronic venous insufficiency, a common vein disorder.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the condition as “benign and [a] common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70.”