It's been four days since former President Donald Trump narrowly escaped a semiautomatic rifle-bearing attempted assassin who shot up his rally in Pennsylvania, leaving one attendee dead, multiple injured, and Trump himself with an ear wound that has inspired bizarre political fashion statements at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
What has remained elusive, however, are any concrete details about Trump's injury or medical status following the attack. He clearly is well enough to attend the convention — but, the Associated Press noted on Wednesday evening, little else is known.
Immediately after the attack, noted the report, Trump's campaign issued a statement that he was “fine” and “being checked out at a local medical facility,” with "more details" soon to follow. But no official medical statements came out, except for Trump posting on social media that he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part” of his ear.
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This comes as former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), a one-time Tea Party lawmaker turned Trump opponent, expressed his own misgivings about how little medical information has been supplied so far beyond that.
Candidates like Trump, and indeed sitting presidents, "have long had to balance their right to doctor-patient confidentiality with the public’s expectations that they demonstrate they are healthy enough to serve, particularly when questions arise about their readiness," wrote Nicholas Riccardi and Jill Colvin. "Trump, for example, has long pressed President Joe Biden to take a cognitive test as the Democrat faces doubts after his stumbling performance in last month’s debate." Biden, for his part, has said he will take one, but only if his doctors deem it medically necessary.
Trump has faced questions about his medical transparency in the past, most notably when he was infected with COVID-19 on the campaign trail in 2020, before any vaccines were available and before Paxlovid was approved. He was whisked away to Walter Reed Medical Center on that occasion, and there were hints that his condition was far graver than officials were letting on, including that he was suffering from low blood oxygen.
He has also faced his own criticisms regarding his cognitive health, which he has repeatedly tried to wave away by boasting that he "aced" the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a protocol given to people to test for cases of dementia.
"Totally normal. Nothing shady," wrote columnist Wajahat Ali on X.
