COVID Strongman Trump Wanted To Wear A Superman Shirt Upon Exiting Walter Reed

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump walks out of Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland before heading to Marine One on October 5, 2020, to return to the White House after being discharged. - Trump announce... TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump walks out of Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland before heading to Marine One on October 5, 2020, to return to the White House after being discharged. - Trump announced he would be "back on the campaign trail soon", just before returning to the White House from a hospital where he was being treated for Covid-19. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

President Trump, who has gone out of his way in the past week to portray himself as a strongman who’s defeated COVID-19 amid mixed messaging from the White House on his condition, floated the idea of wearing a Superman shirt after his discharge from Walter Reed last week.

According to the New York Times on Saturday, the President told advisers during several phone calls last weekend from the presidential suite at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center about an outlandish idea he had as he would exit the military hospital where he spent four days undergoing treatment for COVID-19.

People with knowledge of the conversations told the Times that Trump envisioned himself appearing frail as he exited Walter Reed, but would reveal a Superman t-shirt underneath his button-down dress shirt as he ripped open the top layer. The move — which did not ultimately come through — would be part of the President’s attempts to convey strength following his COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment.

Although the Superman stunt wasn’t a feature of Trump’s departure from Walter Reed, the President pulled showboating tactics before and after his discharge from the military hospital. A day before his discharge, Trump held a motorcade publicity stunt in front of the hospital. The next day, the COVID-infected President essentially held a photo-op as he returned to the White House and took off his mask.

The Times noted that the President has expressed his itch to return to the campaign trail to advisers. The White House event on Saturday — which was his first public event since his discharge from Walter Reed — was a compromise from advisers, who preferred delaying Trump’s re-entry on the campaign trail.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Really? That’s the title?

  2. Avatar for iamwil iamwil says:

    Trump’s StuporMan reveal rehearsal goes awry.

  3. floated the idea of wearing a Superman shirt after his discharge from Walter Reed

    Trick or treat?

  4. That’s actually mildly funny. I mean, in a stupid, selfish, wannabe dictator way, but it’s like maybe he possesses a microscopic, vestigial sense of humor? Color me gobsmacked.

  5. You wait long enough and eventually the dirt filters out.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

407 more replies

Participants

Avatar for daveminnj Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for cervantes Avatar for george_spiggott Avatar for squirreltown Avatar for thebigragu Avatar for danny Avatar for darrtown Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for tena Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for Anarchy_Bunker Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for somethinghappened Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for bwillator Avatar for seamus42 Avatar for justruss Avatar for greenman66 Avatar for yellowbeard Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for arawak Avatar for emiliano4 Avatar for Hatmama

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: