Trump Keeps Canceling Interviews While Suggesting Kamala’s Seasonal Allergies Make Her Unfit to Serve
Barf Bag: The 78-year-old has been rambling on the campaign trail for months but has the gall to claim that Harris shouldn't be president due to her health.
Photo: Getty Images Politics 2024 ElectionWelcome back to Barf Bag. This Friday feature, highlighting the most vomit-inducing news of the week, is typically a subscriber-only benefit. But in these final weeks before Election Day, we’re making Barf Bag available to all readers. (Feel free to still subscribe!)
In recent days, former president Donald Trump—who could become the oldest person elected president—has backed out of interviews with 60 Minutes, CNBC, and NBC News, plus the NRA canceled a rally in Georgia where Trump was scheduled to appear. The cancellations come after Trump refused to do a second debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on October 23. (Harris will participate in a town hall that night instead.)
The 78-year-old has been rambling on the campaign trail for months about Hannibal Lecter and wind turbines and at a rally this week he spent 40 minutes bopping along to music rather than taking questions. News outlets are finally covering his mental state as the real issue that it is, yet Trump has the gall to claim that it’s Harris who’s not fit to serve because of her health.
This week, the White House released a summary of Harris’ medical report saying that the 59-year-old is in “excellent health” and has a history of seasonal allergies that have never been severe. The doctor who wrote it, Army Colonel Dr. Joshua Simmons, concluded that Harris “possesses the physical and mental resiliency” required to serve as president.
Harris then challenged Trump to release an updated medical report; he hasn’t released detailed medical information since January 2018. Trump told CBS in August that he would release his records, but in a shock to no one, he has not.
Trump responded in pathetic fashion by trying to argue that her allergies are “deeply serious.” He wrote on Truth Social:
I have just seen Kamala’s Report, and it is not good. According to her Doctor’s Report, she suffers from “urticaria,” defined as “a rash of round, red welts on the skin that itch intensely, sometimes with dangerous swelling.” She also has “allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis,” a very messy and dangerous situation. These are deeply serious conditions that clearly impact her functioning. Maybe that is why she can’t answer even the simplest of questions asked by 60 Minutes, and others. What is this all about? I don’t have these problems…
In another post, he claimed “Kamala’s Medical Report is really bad. With all of the problems that she has, there is a real question as to whether or not she should be running for President! MY REPORT IS PERFECT – NO PROBLEMS!!!”
OK, release it then!
Also this week, in a post ranting and raving over Harris’ 60 Minutes interview, Trump revealed that, nearly three months later, he still wishes President Joe Biden were his opponent. He wrote:
60 MINUTES SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY TAKEN OFF THE AIR – ELECTION INTERFERENCE. CBS SHOULD LOSE ITS LICENSE. THIS IS THE BIGGEST SCANDAL IN BROADCAST HISTORY. Kamala should be investigated and forced off the Campaign, and Joe Biden allowed to take back his rightful place (He got 14 Million Primary Votes, she got none!). THIS WHOLE SORDID AND FRAUDULENT EVENT IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY!
Sounds like someone not fit to be president.
So much news…
- Michigan GOP house candidate Tom Barrett put the wrong election date in an ad he ran in a Black-owned newspaper. Curiously, his campaign got the date right in the ad placed in a newspaper not predominantly read by Black voters. [Washington Post]
- A North Carolina man arrested for threatening to harm FEMA workers said he believed social media reports that the agency was refusing to help people after Hurricane Helene. [ABC News/Associated Press]
- West Virginia GOP Senate nominee and current Gov. Jim Justice (R) is frequently absent from the state capitol possibly due to health problems. If he wins as expected and Republicans take the majority, his spotty attendance may affect key votes. [Politico]
- Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Trump “stupid” and a “despicable human being” in December 2020, but said this week that his comments were less bad than what JD Vance or Lindsey Graham said about Trump. [NBC News]
- Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake speculated for months that opponent Rep. Ruben Gallego wanted his divorce records kept sealed because they contained something nefarious. After they were released, a judge said it was “one of the most garden-variety divorce files I have ever seen” and Gallego wants Lake to apologize. [Washington Post]
- Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley has been using private jets as he campaigns for re-election, after knocking former Sen. McCaskill for the same thing in 2018. [Missouri Independent]
A section of just Trump nonsense:
- Tump has been escalating his chilling rhetoric about people who oppose or merely criticize him, now suggesting that speech in political ads or interviews that he disapproves of is “illegal.” The First Amendment would like a word. [NBC News]
- Trump said during a Tuesday rally in Atlanta, Georgia, that Black and Latino voters who support Harris need their “head examined.” [The Hill]
- Headline: Trump won’t say if he’s spoken to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, but “if I did, it’s a smart thing.” [CBS News]
- Trump reportedly owes at least $750,000 to multiple cities where he’s held events since 2016 for the costs of local law enforcement and other first responders. [NBC News]
- Meanwhile, the co-manager of Trump’s campaign and consultant to two Trump-affiliated super PACs, Chris LaCivita, has raked in at least $22 million in the past two years. [The Daily Beast]
This has been your weekly Barf Bag, thanks for reading!