The internet began to speculate on the wellbeing of President Donald Trump after he was not heard from publicly for three days over Labor Day weekend. The event caused conspiracy and memes aplenty on social media until Trump eventually returned for a press conference.
President Donald Trump is 79 years old and currently the oldest person to ever be elected president. His age, along with several health concerns, gave credence to the American public as they began to speculate why the president was missing for three days during Labor Day weekend.
Several people online have made posts regarding President Trump’s physical appearance, such as significant swelling at the ankles and a strange purple bruise seen on his right hand, which he attempts to cover with makeup. This, coinciding with President Trump’s absence, could only mean one thing to the American public: he was dead.
On the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the trending tag, #TrumpIsDead, was filled with speculation and users descending into conspiracy over the wellbeing of the president.
Accounts began to push back on the craze by posting photos of President Trump on outings, commonly saying he had been golfing during his absence. Other users on Reddit and TikTok believed the White House was posting old images of Trump from past photo shoots. This only spurred users on to question if the White House was hiding the president for more serious reasons.
While the brief period of conspiracy led to a stir of memes and speculation, that was all tamped down once President Trump returned to the public eye the following Tuesday. While at a press conference, Trump responded to comments about the phenomena, discrediting his absence and posting on Truth Social that he had, “NEVER FELT BETTER IN [his] LIFE!”
This moment of online speculation spanning only a few days led to the creation of memes, conspiracy and political discourse. In the end, though, once Trump returned after his brief vacation, all those theories were disproven. Despite this, people continue to speculate on President Donald Trump’s health day after day, either with hope or dismay.
