It is a bit risky to run with what might otherwise be seen as a snarky shot at Donald Trump’s problems with aging, especially when it compares to the fate of millions of blameless Ukrainians fighting for their country. But a president’s health is an obvious concern, especially when flying all over the world in an attempt to harness some sort of peace agreement. To that end, no less than the Irish Star brings our attention to Trump’s on-again, off-again problem with swollen ankles and calves, or “cankles” as they have come to be called, and their reappearance in Anchorage.
Yeah, that’s rough. As the Star notes:
The veins of a person with CVI have trouble returning blood to the heart. It’s common in people over the age of 70. The condition isn’t life-threatening; however, doctors say it gets riskier with age and can be exacerbated with a poor diet.
Right. Riskier with age is the thing, and no one here is dissing the aging process; some of us refuse to even mock the adult Depends issue – no one is getting younger. Additionally, if one is ever going to have swollen ankles, it would be after a seven-hour flight out to Alaska – and that is the point. Will this get in the way of the job itself? (Many would say we’d be much better off, but that’s another issue entirely.) The Star goes on to note that Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, seems pretty defensive about the whole thing. In talking about Trump’s health, she had said:
“He’s moving, he’s working, he’s continuing; there have been no adjustments made to his lifestyle.” But when asked if Trump’s White House physician Sean Barbabella could answer questions about the president’s health, Leavitt said she didn’t “want to make that commitment on behalf of the physician.”
Smart. No one wants to talk about that issue right now because there is nothing good to talk about. He can fly all over the world, and when he shows up looking like he’s wearing shin guards, it is going to get attention.
But it goes beyond that. Trump has made a career of calling out others as “weak” and “low energy” and even “old,” as was the case with Joe Biden. It would hardly do to suddenly have all of that history swing around on him. Yet it is inevitable. No matter how good his “genes” might be in his own mind (Or Sydney Sweeny, for that matter, who does – without question, have good jeans, and this part of the Left remains untriggered), there is little that can be done with the aging issue, one that will increasingly factor into this term. He will be getting into that age at which Joe Biden – who was and is in shape, was unable to fend off the incessant questions. What goes around comes around.
So let the cankle controversy start anew. Is Trump too old to head up the White House? Nah, age alone has little to do with it. Is he too frail? Not yet, he did hop on a plane and fly seven hours for a three-hour sitdown and then fly right back. No, the problem is judgment, same as it always was. But without a doubt, these questions will continue to swell up just as surely as his ankles. Indeed, at various points, it looks like only Father Time might save us from a republic-ruining attempt at a third term.
So have some more KFC, chief.
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fun fact: flying in air cabins with bad circulation does that to the elderly.
I haven’t flown in damned near 20 years. Bummer because I always loved flying, especially on small aircraft and helicopters – love the feeling of it bouncing around the sky in addition to the view. Anyway when I moved to NC and wrecked my own health in addition to the neuropathy in my lower extremities I also wound up the condition you’ve described. I shouldn’t be surpised as I saw the same thing with my dad who was a heavy smoker and drinker after WWII. At least when my ankles are swollen the aren’t purple colored like his were.
Anway for about ten years I’ve gotten supplies of compression socks from the VA. They work quite well both in moving blood back up my legs and relieving the discomfort of the swollen feet and ankles. The problem is that the docs say I need the highest level of compression BUT the foot part of the socks is too small for the size of feet I have and they way they cram my toes together sometimes leads to sores or redness that will become sores if I don’t take a break from the compression socks. That’s bad for a diabetic which I also happen to be. So I go through cycles of wearing my compression socks which relieves an irritating level of discomfort and days on NOT wearing them which caused my feet and ankles to get all puffy like Trump’s do. Again, I wouldn’t call it painful but it IS irritating to a degree that can’t be ignored.
I’m quite sure it bugs the shit out of Trump worse than in does me. The difference is I’m not President and don’t have to deal with powerful people and world leaders on a regular basis. HE does and let’s face it – we need someone in the job who’s at least most of the time feeling ok, no major gripes and such so they can concentrate on the business at hand. Trump couldn’t do that even before he developed this particular problem.
Finally, while not life threatening in and of itself it DOES signal a person has other health issues and not minor ones. So again, it’s a sign that Trump’s health is worse off and likely far more so than he and the WH claim is the case. As you say that’s a worrisome thing with any President and Trump wasn’t capable of doing the job twenty years ago when he was still in relatively good health!