WEIGHT A MINUTE

Overweight Trump, 80, Fat-Shames Reporter in Unhinged Meltdown

A White House reporter clearly struck a nerve by asking about the president’s health.

President Donald Trump has gone on an unhinged, fat-shaming tirade against a reporter who dared to ask if his last-second rally cancellations were tied to him being tired of traveling.

Trump, who is overweight at 238 pounds and less than two pounds shy of being classified as obese, erupted at Reuters White House correspondent Jacob Bogage when he asked about his health and last-minute decision to cancel a trip to Kansas on his midterm panic tour.

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“You not going to Kansas has nothing to do with you being sick of traveling?” Bogage asked Trump on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. Before that, he called out, “How’s your health?”

“Oh, you’re sick to ask that question. You are sick,” Trump, 80, snarled. “Who are you with?”

“I’m with Reuters, sir,” replied Bogage.

“You are a sick guy. Reuters is terrible, by the way,” Trump continued, before launching into an unhinged tirade.

“Can you imagine? Look at this—look at this guy. He’s way out of shape. Look at that, how badly—he comes to me, ‘Sir, you’re not going to Kansas,’” the president said.

“I’m not going to Kansas because he’s doing very well,” Trump added, referring to Republican Sen. Roger Marshall.

The Kansas senator is, in fact, in real danger of losing his seat. A new CNN poll found Democrat Adam Hamilton leading Marshall by four percentage points among likely Kansas voters.

“You’ve been following me for two weeks. I feel perfect,” Trump continued. “You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape. You look like hell.”

Trump then abruptly ended the questioning and walked away as reporters shouted after him. The president often spends upwards of five minutes chatting with reporters on the tarmac, but Thursday’s exchange wrapped up in less than two and a half minutes.

While the White House touts Trump’s “sharpness” and “unmatched energy” daily, his tired appearance and rambling speeches have raised questions about his health as he crisscrosses the country ahead of the midterms.

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Trump’s vile rant was swiftly mocked by critics who pointed out he was hardly one to be throwing stones at someone else’s weight and appearance.

After his physical in May, the White House announced that Trump weighed 238 pounds and was 6′3″ tall—a reported height many believe is loftier than he actually is—giving him a BMI of 29.7, which falls in the overweight category and is just under the 30.0 threshold for obesity.

And though the octogenarian is quick to tell others to shape up, he doesn’t seem to be making much effort to follow his own advice.

Trump told The Wall Street Journal earlier this year that he isn’t interested in physical activities outside of golf.

“I just don’t like it. It’s boring,” he said of exercise. “To walk on a treadmill or run on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people do, that’s not for me.”

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Erkki ForsterNight News Reporter

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