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| Donald Trump, with red marks on his right hand |
Donald Trump appeared in public yesterday with mysterious red marks on his right hand, prompting a flurry of online speculation about the cause of the clearly visible marks, which looked like sores of some type. The New Republic (TNR) tackled the story under the headline "What the Hell Was That Stuff on Donald Trump's Hands?" Writes reporter Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling;
Donald Trump’s hands didn’t look too good on Wednesday, leading to a flurry of theories about the current state of the GOP front-runner’s mental and physical health.
Political advisers and voters alike speculated across the spectrum as to the origin of the dark, red spots on Trump’s hand, arguing that the marks’ origin could be anything from syphilis to ink splotches.
james Carville, former campaign strategist for Bill Clinton, seemed to delight in advancing the syphilis theory
“They don’t look like cuts to me, they look like sores,” said Bill Clinton’s former presidential campaign strategist James Carville, during a livestream. “I’ve asked a number of M.D.s what medical condition manifests itself through hand sores, and the answer is immediate and unanimous: secondary syphilis.”
Carville deserves credit for his hard work on the story. If his goal was to get the syphilis angle out there, it worked, Houghtling writes:
Earlier on Wednesday, syphilis was trending on X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Others pondered whether the mysterious condition emerged due to a rash, dry skin, or even as the result of some emotionally charged tantrum.
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Scarborough weighed in with this, while others went different directions, Houghtaling reports:
“Is it magic marker? Because it looks like he has a sore on his index finger there,” said Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
“There was a point during the day where Trump, very frustrated with Judge Lewis Kaplan in the E. Jean Crroll case, banged his hands down on the table. I doubt that the blisters or marks come from that. But could they be exacerbated by that? Perhaps,” speculated MSNBC’s Lisa Rubin.
“Like a toddler having a tantrum, perhaps, and causing bleeding into his hand?” responded Willie Geist.
Some online posters noticed that the emergence of Trump’s mysterious hand condition coincided with a bizarre speech Wednesday night, theorizing that Trump’s cluttered and nonsensical speech could be a symptom of late-stage syphilis, which can develop into neurosyphilis.
“We’re also going to place strong protections to stop banks and regulators from trying to debank you from your—you know, your political beliefs what they do. They want to debank you, and we’re going to debank—think of this. They want to take away your rights, they want to take away your country, the things you’re doing,” Trump said during a New Hampshire campaign rally, immediately before diving into a rant about electric cars.
Primary and secondary syphilis can be cured if they are diagnosed early and completely treated, usually with antibotics, such as Penicillin.
Tertiary syphillis appears in people who have not been treated and can involve serious complications -- including damage to the heart; causing aneurysms and valve disease; central nervous system disorders, such as neurosyphilis; and tumors of the skin, bones, and liver.
Famous people who died of syphilis include painter Edouard Manet, writers Oscar Wilde and Charles Baudelaire, and gangster Al Capone.
Tertiary syphilis is considered a severe disease; it may be permanently disabling, and can lead to death. From a World Health Organization report:
Without treatment, the tertiary phase of syphilis may lead to several complications decades after infection. At this stage, syphilis can affect multiple organs and systems, including brain, nerves, eyes, liver, heart, blood vessels, bones and joints. Tertiary syphilis can also cause death.
syphils, as much as some would wish that to be the case, those spots can also come from touching something hot, like a coffee out of the micro wave, grabbing a hair styling tool, touching a live wire. Of course all of these would require some work or activity on his part, but still it is doubtful he has syphilis. Its a fun thought though, Being crazy isn't just the result of syphilis, sometimes its dementia, sometimes its because they are simply nuts and a nasty piece of shit also.
ReplyDeleteHis political enemies aren't going to get that lucky that he has syphilis which has also impacted his brain.
if his speech was later in the day, it could be dementia which caused his ranblings.
One could say MTG has made enough of what's on Hunter Biden's computer, so one could say this is simply fair play in a nasty political fight.
It is nasty, for sure. Gotta give credit to James Carville for getting the syphilis angle out there. Still can't believe that a lot of folks in New Hampshire, which must have a highly educated population -- with quite a few Ivy League grads -- are going to vote for Trump. It's like our country has lost its collective mind.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people in a lot of countries thought the Nazis were doing a good job in Germany and when they invaded other countries, citizens of thoser countries joined the Nai Party and a lot of them were well educated people. In some families some joined the Nazis and in others the resistance. No accounting for taste
ReplyDeleteI would not be surprised if a large number of "educated" people vote for trump. They look around the country and beleive it to be out of control. They think he will bring order to the country. In Germany they thought Hitler would improve their living conditions and restore the economy.
Interesting thoughts about the Nazis and educated class, e.a.f. You would think the two would be polar opposites, but apparently not. Many in this country probably thought "It can't happen here." But as each day passes, we see it probably can happen here. Thanks for sharing. Roger
ReplyDeleteI thought New Hampshire's standing as the No. 6 most educated state was interesting. Had been wondering about that leading up to the primary. I thought that would make it more difficult for Trump, but it didn't.
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