« Can Bloomberg ever recover from his disastrous debate debut? | Trump proposes a new approach to the broken budget process »
February 24, 2020

David Frum foolishly decides to 'fat shame' President Trump

By Andrea Widburg

On CNN's Reliable Sources, viewers were treated to one of its usual (ahem) "hard-hitting" pieces of journalism, this time about how "Meme Wars Grab Headlines Amid 2020 Primary Race."  One of the guests on the segment was David Frum, a former George H.W. Bush speechwriter who became an Obama-supporter and then a Trump-hater.

One of the CNN talking heads (I have no idea which one) gave Frum the following opening:

David, one of the things that is so interesting and, I think, sinister about this stuff, is that it really does have the impact of trying to increase cynicism and apathy. That that's part of its goal. To sort of muddy the waters. Tell us a little bit about your insights into that.

Frum shot back an answer that is so incredibly ill informed that it's one for the record books:

Well, it has an effect also on people's affirmative ideas. One of the things that Donald Trump tried to spread in 2016 was the idea that Hillary Clinton was some[how] physical incapable of managing the presidency. I mean, it's audacious. Donald Trump was [one of] the oldest presidents ever, one of the fattest presidents ever, the least physically capable president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in a wheelchair. I mean, he can't pick up a ball, let alone throw it. But he was able to put into the minds of tens of millions of people the idea that Hillary Clinton, who's a very vigorous woman in good health, was somehow too sick to be president.

 

 

Let's take every misstatement in order.

Oldest president: It's true that Trump was the oldest president to enter the White House for the first time.  However, we're not talking decades of difference between him and the others.  He was only eight months older than Reagan, a year and a half older than Harrison, five years older than Buchanan, and six years older than George H.W. Bush.

Moreover, Trump's vigor is extraordinary.  He sleeps only four to five hours a night and, unlike every president in remembered history, seems to be getting younger, not older as his presidency progresses.

Fattest president: Has Frum (a Canadian) forgotten about America's fattest president, William Howard Taft?  Taft checked in at about 340 pounds.  Then, ranking presidents in descending order by BMI (a better measure of obesity than weight), we have Cleveland (275 lbs/34.6 BMI); McKinley (233 lbs/31.1 BMI); Taylor (230 lbs/30.2 BMI); Roosevelt (237 lbs/30.2 BMI); and, finally, Trump (245 lbs/30.0 BMI). Trump's not svelte, but he's not monstrous, either.

Physical capability: Trump is a decent golfer.  Even with a cart, that still entails a certain amount of physical effort.  He's not anywhere near needing a wheelchair.  His physical well-being differs from John F. Kennedy, who suffered from chronic fevers, ulcers, colitis, prostate inflammation, abscesses in his back, high cholesterol, Addison's disease, UTIs, chronic back pain, osteoporosis, hypothyroidism, depression and anxiety, and drug side effects.  And there was his methamphetamine addiction...

Moreover, Trump has incredible athleticism, probably going back to his time as a star baseball player:

 

 

Here's a video of Trump on the tennis court:

And then there's Obama:

 

 

That's all historic ignorance on Frum's part.  But it's pure make-believe when he describes Hillary as "a very vigorous woman in good health."  The reason Trump was able to make people believe Hillary was sick was because she presented as sick:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fat-shaming, ignorance, and lying — pretty standard fare, when you think about it, for Trump-haters.

 

 

 

 

If you experience technical problems, please write to helpdesk@americanthinker.com