Kathrine Frich
New questions are swirling around 80-year-old US President Donald Trump.
When you spend your life in the public eye, every single step is caught on camera.
People notice how you stand, how you wave, and how you move across a room.
Lately, one short walk across a grassy lawn has viewers looking closer than ever.
A strange walk
According to the Irish Star, new questions are swirling around 80-year-old US President Donald Trump and his physical fitness.
As the second-oldest president in American history, he has already faced months of chatter over bruised hands, wandering speeches, and sleepy public appearances.
Now, a clip from the White House South Lawn has added fuel to the fire. The footage, highlighted by the Irish Star and political commentator David Pakman, shows the president walking away from reporters toward his Marine One helicopter.
During the walk, he moves unsteadily and taps his leg. Pakman, a vocal critic of the president, told viewers that Trump seems “completely gone”.
“Donald Trump is increasingly looking like a man who can no longer walk from one place to another. And there is a new video that I want you to see,” Pakman said, as cited by the Irish Star. “Because at this point, the strange walking and the wandering and the repeated tapping of his right thigh, it is a pattern so recurring that we must scrutinize it.”
Speculation over leg braces
Watching the clip, Pakman pointed out how the president struggled to walk in a straight line.
“You will see Trump unable to trace a straight line, Trump tapping that right thigh endlessly and also struggling again. There’s suspicion that he’s wearing leg braces of some kind. Look at this,” he added.
Once at the helipad, the Irish Star notes that Trump stood with his legs splayed wide while waving into the distance, leaning forward awkwardly. “It’s like what? What exactly do his legs do right there? That is really strange, guys. Really, really strange”, Pakman remarked.
A recurring pattern
That right-hand tap is not new. The Irish Star reported that Trump did the exact same thing in September while walking down airplane stairs in Dallas, Texas, for the Republican Convention.
Back then, Pakman shared online theories about the habit. “It seems like it’s when Trump is taking a risky step, or walking in a way that requires a little extra concentration, he grips the railing, he looks down at his feet, and then he starts tapping with his right hand,” he explained.
He noted it could be a physical therapy trick using touch to help start a movement. Still, the White House rejects any talk of decline, according to the Irish Star.
Trump’s doctor, Capt Sean Barbabella, stated after this year’s checkup that the president is in “excellent health” with “strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall physical function”.
