Mike Pence was placed on ‘standby’ to take power if Trump needed to be anesthetized in hospital last year, Times reporter writes. After it was reported that Mike Pence was placed on “standby to take over the powers of the presidency temporarily” if Donald Trump had needed to be anesthetized during a surprise visit to hospital last November, the president was moved to tweet a denial that he “suffered a series of mini-strokes”.
Donald Trump v the United States review: how democracy came under assault Previous speculation around the visit has centered on whether the president suffered a heart attack. Trump has denied that and on Tuesday he wrote: “It never ends! Now they are trying to say that your favorite president, me, went to Walter Reed medical center, having suffered a series of mini-strokes. “Never happened to THIS candidate – FAKE NEWS. Perhaps they are referring to another candidate from another party!” Trump has consistently accused Joe Biden, his 77-year-old opponent in this year’s election, of mental frailties related to his age. But the president’s own mental health has also been widely questioned, in light of slips while reading teleprompter speeches and uncertain movements in public. In June, after Trump appeared to struggle to walk down a gently sloping ramp at West Point, Bandy Lee, a Yale psychiatrist and editor of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, wrote on Twitter: “This is a persistent neurological sign that, combined with others, would be concerning enough to require a brain scan.” Trump rubbished such speculation. As CNN reported, at a rally in Tulsa the president “dedicated 1,798 words to retelling the story of his speech to cadets and his halting, tentative walk down a ramp. By way of comparison, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was 272 words – or roughly one-sixth as long.”
via guardian: Trump denies ‘suffering mini-strokes’ after book reports mystery hospital visit