Conspiracy theories come back to bite Trump and haunt the White House

Conspiracy theories come back to bite Trump and haunt the White House
The president is alive — but questions are still being raised about his health

By Sophia Tesfaye
Senior Writer
Published September 3, 2025 9:04AM (EDT)


(Salon) Maybe you do, indeed, have to hand it to Fox News reporter Peter Doocy. The White House correspondent, who former President Joe Biden famously described on a hot mic as a “stupid son of a b***h,” did not shy away from a topic that much of the media — mainstream and right-wing, alike — had previously avoided: Donald Trump’s apparently declining health.

“How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?” Doocy asked the president during a press availability on Tuesday. After an hours-long Cabinet meeting on Aug. 26, Trump took a week-long break from public appearances — his longest hiatus since taking office. The president’s lack of visibility and interactions with the press, odd for someone who thrives on being seen and heard, led social media users to question if he had died or if he was physically in decline. They focused on images of Trump’s swollen ankles, puffy face, unsteady gait and a bruised hand, which still appeared to be discolored during Tuesday’s Oval Office event. He was eventually forced to respond, writing on Truth Social on Labor Day, “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE.”

“People didn’t see you for a couple of days. One-point-three million user engagements as of Saturday morning about your demise,” Doocy informed Trump. Tuesday’s presser — which was announced late on Labor Day, after the online chatter had reached a fevered crescendo despite furtive sightings from the White House press pool on Saturday, Sunday and Monday at Trump’s golf club in Sterling, Va. — felt very much like a panicked proof of life event. Still, Trump pretended to not understand the commotion. “No, I’ve been very active actually over the weekend. I didn’t hear that one. That’s pretty serious. Well, it’s fake news. You know, it’s just so, it’s so fake. That’s why the media has so little credibility.”

....(snip)....

According to the Associated Press, Trump’s absence and concerns about his health were not covered by much of the mainstream press before Fox News brought the online conspiracy theories right to Trump’s doorsteps. Few other Trump-friendly outlets dared touch the subject. The right-wing Breitbart collected reactions from Trump’s supporters to what they described as “leftist fantasies about the president’s demise.” Newsmax anchor Rick Leventhal, a former Fox News reporter, read a series of social media messages on the topic. “The left did not hesitate to take to social media sending ill will the president’s way,” he said. “That’s ageism,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham declared. But Alex Jones, far from a leftist, warned that Trump’s “cankles” — swollen ankles the White House physician has attributed to chronic venous insufficiency — could lead to an imminent “collapse” within the next year. He compared Trump’s condition to “a light bulb starting to go out,” citing fluctuations in energy and cognition. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in July that Trump had been diagnosed with CVI, and that his bruises were the result of “frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin.” ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/09/03/conspiracy-theories-come-back-to-bite-trump-and-haunt-the-white-house/