Trump Talks Weight, Ivanka on ‘Dr. Oz’ Set, Attendees Say
Aides said earlier he wouldn’t discuss exam report on the show
Candidates’ health flared as issue after Clinton fell ill
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has high cholesterol, enjoys fast food, and acknowledged wanting to drop weight at a taping of the “Dr. Oz Show” Wednesday in New York, attendees said amid renewed interest in the 2016 candidates’ health records.
The 70-year-old has a body-mass index of about 30 -- which government experts say is on the border between overweight and obese -- and said he hoped to lose 15 or 20 pounds, said attendees who were interviewed in New York ahead of the show’s airing Thursday, citing an on-the-fly BMI calculation by Oz.
Trump generally got a good bill of health from Dr. Mehmet Oz, the host of the popular daytime show, attendees said. Trump has high testosterone, said he finds it hard to exercise on the campaign trail, and said he doesn’t have time to golf as much as he’d like, attendees said.
In a preview clip of the show, Trump shared with Oz the results of a recent physical exam that his campaign has yet to release to the public. The campaign didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the show’s announcement that Trump had shared the information.
The presidential candidates’ health and commitments to transparency flared up as campaign issues again this weekend after Democrat Hillary Clinton became dizzy and stumbled at a Sept. 11 anniversary ceremony in an incident caught on video. Her campaign later disclosed she had pneumonia and promised to release more health information.
The show said the results were from an exam performed last week by Dr. Harold Bornstein, Trump’s longtime physician, who predicted the candidate would be the “healthiest individual ever elected” in an assessment last year.
Oz “took Mr. Trump through a full review of systems” including the nervous system, the head and neck, hormone levels, cardiovascular health and medications, respiratory health, gastrointestinal health, bladder or prostate health, and family medical history, the show said.
One audience member, 25-year-old New York freelance theatre producer Jen Sandler, recalled Oz saying he would consider a man of Trump’s health to be a dream patient.
Trump said he kisses his daughter Ivanka -- who spoke on the show about Trump’s new child-care plan, according to the program -- as often as he can, attendees said.
“It was very reassuring,” said Stan Gale, a 66-year-old New York real-estate developer who said he knows the Trump family socially and was wearing a red hat with Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.” “I assumed this was the case but it’s always nice to hear it from a medical professional.”
Not all attendees were impressed.
“They didn’t go into his moral health,” said Madeline Rhodes of New York.
‘Very Specific Numbers’
Trump said Monday on Fox News that he had undergone a physical exam within the last week and would release “very, very specific numbers” from it. Democrats have criticized him for attacking Clinton’s transparency on health even after he released just a four-paragraph letter from Bornstein last year.
Trump wished Clinton, 68, well and said, “We have to see what’s wrong,” taking a more restrained tone than he had in the past about an opponent he has criticized as lacking the necessary stamina for the presidency.
Fox News reported Monday that Trump’s exam would be a subject of discussion at the “Dr. Oz” taping, which was scheduled before news of Clinton’s pneumonia. But sparking confusing, senior Trump campaign aides told reporters before the taping that Trump wouldn’t discuss his medical reports or recent exam on the show.
Trump’s exam took place before Clinton’s incident, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on MSNBC on Tuesday. Trump underwent the exam because “he believes that it’s important for the public to know what his basic health condition is,” Conway said, even as she also said, “I don’t know why we need such extensive medical reporting when we all have a right to privacy.”
‘Really His Decision’
“It’s really his decision,” Oz said in an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade broadcast Tuesday. “It’s his personal records. I want to ask him pointed questions about his health.”
“We’re going to talk about what he does for his personal health regimen -- what does he eat, how does he deal with stress?” Oz said.
What if there were embarrassing things in Trump’s records? “Well, I bet he won’t release them,” Oz said. “The metaphor for me, this is a doctor’s office, the studio. So I’m not going to ask him questions he doesn’t want to have answered.”
Oz said he’d also invited Clinton to appear on his show and that he and Trump wouldn’t discuss her.
‘Quack’ Treatments
Oz has attracted his own share of controversy, getting dubbed “America’s quack” by science bloggers in 2014 and receiving credit for the so-called “Oz effect” of boosting sales of products that often include unproven alternative therapies.
Last year, 10 doctors, surgeons, and professors sent a letter to a Columbia University official calling on him to fire Oz from his position as vice chair of the surgical department for promoting “quack” treatments for his own financial gain. They said he has shown “disdain” for science and made “baseless and relentless” attacks on genetically modified foods.
Oz responded on his popular show that he never promotes treatments for financial gain and questioned the credibility of some of his critics, according to the New York Times. “I vow to you right here and right now, we will not be silenced,” he said, according to the Times.
Transparency Issues
Clinton and her allies say that the little health information Trump’s released so far, along with his decision not to release his tax returns -- a break from modern presidential-campaign precedent -- should trouble voters.
Clinton, who has long battled the perception that she’s secretive, said Monday on CNN that Americans “know more about me than almost anyone in public life,” spanning her finances and her health. Still, she’s taken heat for not disclosing her Friday pneumonia diagnosis more quickly and for initially leaving reporters in the dark about the Sunday incident.
“Antibiotics can take care of pneumonia. What’s the cure for an unhealthy penchant for privacy that repeatedly creates unnecessary problems?” tweeted David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, on Monday.
Both candidates have poor favorability and trustworthiness ratings from voters. Overall, Clinton on Wednesday had a narrow 2-percentage-point lead in the race in the RealClearPolitics national poll average, which also includes third-party candidates.
The health issue has also gained more prominence in the 2016 race because Trump would be the oldest person to assume the White House if he wins in November; Clinton would be the second oldest, after Ronald Reagan.
Hillary Clinton is “feeling great and I think she’ll be back out there tomorrow,” said her husband, former President Bill Clinton, campaigning for her in Las Vegas on Wednesday. “It’s a crazy time we live in, you know, when people think there’s something unusual about getting the flu. Last time I checked, millions of people were getting it every year.”
Candidates’ Letters
In Bornstein’s letter released in December, he said Trump’s blood pressure of 110/65 and other laboratory tests were “astonishingly excellent.” Trump took a daily aspirin and a low dose of a statin, a drug used to lower cholesterol, said the gastroenterologist and internal medicine specialist, who said he had served as Trump’s doctor since 1980.
No laboratory results were given except a PSA score of 0.15, which Bornstein characterized as "very low." The PSA test for prostate cancer is no longer backed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which said the risks that stem from treatment after undergoing screening outweigh the possible benefits. Bornstein didn’t say whether Trump had undergone a colonoscopy, a screening test for colon cancer recommended beginning at age 50.
Trump had lost 15 pounds during the past year, Bornstein said, without giving his height or weight. Trump had never had surgery other than the removal of his appendix at age 10; never used tobacco products; and had no history of “using alcohol,” the doctor said.
In a letter released in July 2015, internist Lisa Bardack said Clinton “is in excellent physical condition and fit to serve as President of the United States.” Her medical issues included seasonal pollen allergies and hypothyroidism, a condition that is common in women over 60, Bardack said.
Clinton experienced deep vein thrombosis in 1998 and 2009, an elbow fracture in 2009, and a concussion in 2012, all of which were reported publicly at the time. Her current medications included Armour Thyroid, antihistamines, Vitamin B12, and Coumadin, an anticoagulant. Clinton took no other medications regularly, didn’t smoke, and drank alcohol occasionally, according to Bardack.
Aides said earlier he wouldn’t discuss exam report on the show
Candidates’ health flared as issue after Clinton fell ill
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has high cholesterol, enjoys fast food, and acknowledged wanting to drop weight at a taping of the “Dr. Oz Show” Wednesday in New York, attendees said amid renewed interest in the 2016 candidates’ health records.
The 70-year-old has a body-mass index of about 30 -- which government experts say is on the border between overweight and obese -- and said he hoped to lose 15 or 20 pounds, said attendees who were interviewed in New York ahead of the show’s airing Thursday, citing an on-the-fly BMI calculation by Oz.
Trump generally got a good bill of health from Dr. Mehmet Oz, the host of the popular daytime show, attendees said. Trump has high testosterone, said he finds it hard to exercise on the campaign trail, and said he doesn’t have time to golf as much as he’d like, attendees said.
In a preview clip of the show, Trump shared with Oz the results of a recent physical exam that his campaign has yet to release to the public. The campaign didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the show’s announcement that Trump had shared the information.
The presidential candidates’ health and commitments to transparency flared up as campaign issues again this weekend after Democrat Hillary Clinton became dizzy and stumbled at a Sept. 11 anniversary ceremony in an incident caught on video. Her campaign later disclosed she had pneumonia and promised to release more health information.
The show said the results were from an exam performed last week by Dr. Harold Bornstein, Trump’s longtime physician, who predicted the candidate would be the “healthiest individual ever elected” in an assessment last year.
Oz “took Mr. Trump through a full review of systems” including the nervous system, the head and neck, hormone levels, cardiovascular health and medications, respiratory health, gastrointestinal health, bladder or prostate health, and family medical history, the show said.
One audience member, 25-year-old New York freelance theatre producer Jen Sandler, recalled Oz saying he would consider a man of Trump’s health to be a dream patient.
Trump said he kisses his daughter Ivanka -- who spoke on the show about Trump’s new child-care plan, according to the program -- as often as he can, attendees said.
“It was very reassuring,” said Stan Gale, a 66-year-old New York real-estate developer who said he knows the Trump family socially and was wearing a red hat with Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.” “I assumed this was the case but it’s always nice to hear it from a medical professional.”
Not all attendees were impressed.
“They didn’t go into his moral health,” said Madeline Rhodes of New York.
‘Very Specific Numbers’
Trump said Monday on Fox News that he had undergone a physical exam within the last week and would release “very, very specific numbers” from it. Democrats have criticized him for attacking Clinton’s transparency on health even after he released just a four-paragraph letter from Bornstein last year.
Trump wished Clinton, 68, well and said, “We have to see what’s wrong,” taking a more restrained tone than he had in the past about an opponent he has criticized as lacking the necessary stamina for the presidency.
Fox News reported Monday that Trump’s exam would be a subject of discussion at the “Dr. Oz” taping, which was scheduled before news of Clinton’s pneumonia. But sparking confusing, senior Trump campaign aides told reporters before the taping that Trump wouldn’t discuss his medical reports or recent exam on the show.
Trump’s exam took place before Clinton’s incident, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on MSNBC on Tuesday. Trump underwent the exam because “he believes that it’s important for the public to know what his basic health condition is,” Conway said, even as she also said, “I don’t know why we need such extensive medical reporting when we all have a right to privacy.”
‘Really His Decision’
“It’s really his decision,” Oz said in an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade broadcast Tuesday. “It’s his personal records. I want to ask him pointed questions about his health.”
“We’re going to talk about what he does for his personal health regimen -- what does he eat, how does he deal with stress?” Oz said.
What if there were embarrassing things in Trump’s records? “Well, I bet he won’t release them,” Oz said. “The metaphor for me, this is a doctor’s office, the studio. So I’m not going to ask him questions he doesn’t want to have answered.”
Oz said he’d also invited Clinton to appear on his show and that he and Trump wouldn’t discuss her.
‘Quack’ Treatments
Oz has attracted his own share of controversy, getting dubbed “America’s quack” by science bloggers in 2014 and receiving credit for the so-called “Oz effect” of boosting sales of products that often include unproven alternative therapies.
Last year, 10 doctors, surgeons, and professors sent a letter to a Columbia University official calling on him to fire Oz from his position as vice chair of the surgical department for promoting “quack” treatments for his own financial gain. They said he has shown “disdain” for science and made “baseless and relentless” attacks on genetically modified foods.
Oz responded on his popular show that he never promotes treatments for financial gain and questioned the credibility of some of his critics, according to the New York Times. “I vow to you right here and right now, we will not be silenced,” he said, according to the Times.
Transparency Issues
Clinton and her allies say that the little health information Trump’s released so far, along with his decision not to release his tax returns -- a break from modern presidential-campaign precedent -- should trouble voters.
Clinton, who has long battled the perception that she’s secretive, said Monday on CNN that Americans “know more about me than almost anyone in public life,” spanning her finances and her health. Still, she’s taken heat for not disclosing her Friday pneumonia diagnosis more quickly and for initially leaving reporters in the dark about the Sunday incident.
“Antibiotics can take care of pneumonia. What’s the cure for an unhealthy penchant for privacy that repeatedly creates unnecessary problems?” tweeted David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, on Monday.
Both candidates have poor favorability and trustworthiness ratings from voters. Overall, Clinton on Wednesday had a narrow 2-percentage-point lead in the race in the RealClearPolitics national poll average, which also includes third-party candidates.
The health issue has also gained more prominence in the 2016 race because Trump would be the oldest person to assume the White House if he wins in November; Clinton would be the second oldest, after Ronald Reagan.
Hillary Clinton is “feeling great and I think she’ll be back out there tomorrow,” said her husband, former President Bill Clinton, campaigning for her in Las Vegas on Wednesday. “It’s a crazy time we live in, you know, when people think there’s something unusual about getting the flu. Last time I checked, millions of people were getting it every year.”
Candidates’ Letters
In Bornstein’s letter released in December, he said Trump’s blood pressure of 110/65 and other laboratory tests were “astonishingly excellent.” Trump took a daily aspirin and a low dose of a statin, a drug used to lower cholesterol, said the gastroenterologist and internal medicine specialist, who said he had served as Trump’s doctor since 1980.
No laboratory results were given except a PSA score of 0.15, which Bornstein characterized as "very low." The PSA test for prostate cancer is no longer backed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which said the risks that stem from treatment after undergoing screening outweigh the possible benefits. Bornstein didn’t say whether Trump had undergone a colonoscopy, a screening test for colon cancer recommended beginning at age 50.
Trump had lost 15 pounds during the past year, Bornstein said, without giving his height or weight. Trump had never had surgery other than the removal of his appendix at age 10; never used tobacco products; and had no history of “using alcohol,” the doctor said.
In a letter released in July 2015, internist Lisa Bardack said Clinton “is in excellent physical condition and fit to serve as President of the United States.” Her medical issues included seasonal pollen allergies and hypothyroidism, a condition that is common in women over 60, Bardack said.
Clinton experienced deep vein thrombosis in 1998 and 2009, an elbow fracture in 2009, and a concussion in 2012, all of which were reported publicly at the time. Her current medications included Armour Thyroid, antihistamines, Vitamin B12, and Coumadin, an anticoagulant. Clinton took no other medications regularly, didn’t smoke, and drank alcohol occasionally, according to Bardack.
