Something weird happened over Labour Day weekend. President Trump, who’s usually all over TV and social media, went quiet for several days. This is a guy who loves attention and can’t stay out of the news. But when he disappeared, most big news outlets barely mentioned it.
This matters because Trump is 79 years old and has some visible health issues. People have noticed his swollen ankles, shaky walking, and bruised hands. Sometimes he seems confused when he talks. But the media isn’t asking tough questions about any of this.
Compare this to how the media treated Joe Biden. Every time Biden stumbled over words or looked tired, it was front-page news. Reporters wrote story after story about his age and whether he was fit to be president. That coverage was so intense that it helped push Biden out of the 2024 race.
So why isn’t Trump getting the same treatment? He’s showing similar warning signs, but the big news organisations are staying quiet.
When Trump vanished from public view, it should have been big news. This is a president who tweets constantly and loves doing interviews. When someone like that goes silent for days, reporters should be asking questions.
Instead, crazy rumours started spreading on social media. People claimed he was sick or even dead. Without real news coverage, fake stories filled the gap.
When news outlets like the New York Times finally wrote about it, they focused more on fighting the fake rumours than finding out what was really going on. Their headline was basically “Trump Is Alive, Don’t Believe the Internet.”
That’s not real journalism. That’s just damage control.
Past presidents faced much tougher scrutiny. Remember how reporters constantly questioned Ronald Reagan’s mental sharpness in his final years? Or how they closely watched Franklin Roosevelt’s health problems?
Part of the problem is that Trump’s team controls information tightly. When someone tried to assassinate Trump last year, his doctors gave no real medical briefings. All we got were short statements saying he was in “excellent health” with no details.
The White House says they’re being totally transparent. But just saying “everything’s fine” isn’t transparency. Real transparency means sharing actual medical information that Americans have a right to know.
Good health coverage shouldn’t spread rumours or conspiracy theories. But it also shouldn’t just accept whatever the White House says without question.
Reporters should be asking: What’s causing those physical symptoms everyone can see? Why did he disappear from public view? What do his doctors really know about his condition?
These aren’t political attacks. They’re basic questions about someone whose health affects the whole country.
Trump is 79 years old. Being president is incredibly stressful and demanding. Americans need to know if their president can handle the job physically and mentally.
This isn’t about politics. It’s about practical reality. The president makes life-and-death decisions every day. We deserve to know if he’s up for it.
The media covered Biden’s age problems aggressively, and that was the right thing to do. Now they need to do the same with Trump.
Real journalism means asking hard questions, especially when powerful people don’t want to answer them. The public’s right to know about their president’s health isn’t something you can ignore just because it’s uncomfortable.
Next time Trump shows concerning symptoms or disappears from view, news organisations need to do their job. Democracy works only when citizens have real information about their leaders.
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