Yahoo News Trump denies conspiracy theory started by Clinton press secretary that he had a stroke
The White House and Donald Trump are denying an allegation from a former aide to President Bill Clinton that he had a stroke he is "hiding" from voters.
The president appeared to stumble twice in the last week, first following Vice President Mike Pence's GOP nomination acceptance speech last Thursday night in Baltimore then again on Friday evening as he ascended stairs for an airport campaign rally in New Hampshire.
Those slips, along with his semi-frequent habits of slurred speech and mispronouncing words, spawned several days of his critics speculating in cable news and Twitter about his health.
Joe Lockhart, White House press secretary under Mr Clinton, joined that chorus on Monday evening, tweeting: "Did @realDonaldTrump have a stroke which he is hiding from the American public?"
Mr Lockhart might have been alluding to a report in New York Times reporter Michael S Schmidt's new book about the Trump presidency in which he shares this about the president's abrupt November 2019 visit to Walter Reed National Military Hospital: Vice President Mike Pence was "on standby to take over the powers of the presidency temporarily if Trump had to undergo a procedure that would have required him to be anesthetized."
The VP did not have to take over the duties of the presidency at that time.
The White House denied Mr Lockhart's allegation on Tuesday, with an official referring an inquiry to Mr Trump's own denial.
"It never ends! Now they are trying to say that your favourite President, me, went to Walter Reed Medical Center, having suffered a series of mini-strokes," the president tweeted on Tuesday morning. "Never happened to THIS candidate - FAKE NEWS. Perhaps they are referring to another candidate from another Party!"
Notably, Mr Trump continues to golf regularly, angering many of the same Democratic detractors pushing the unfounded stroke theory. Strokes can affect a victim's hands and limbs, all crucial to hitting the links.
The president has been photographed and caught on video many times since November swinging a golf club and making enough contact to send his ball sailing down a fairway. He also played catch with Major League Baseball legend Mariano Rivera at the White House earlier this year to mark MLB's opening day.
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