Trump's doctor finally spoke out in an interview that aired Friday night. But his comments aren't likely to end the questions about the strange letter he drafted last year declaring Trump would be the healthiest president in history. NBC News tracked down Dr. Harold Bornstein, who said in the interview that he crafted Trump's doctor letter in only about five minutes — declaring his patient healthier than all 43 American presidents — while a limousine waited impatiently outside for him to finish. "I thought about it all day and at the end, I get rushed, and I get anxious when I get rushed," Bornstein said. "So I try to get four or five lines down as fast as possible so that they would be happy. "I've got five minutes to sit right at this desk and write that letter while the driver waited for me."
Needless to say, this isn't a fantastic way to write a sober-minded review of the health of a now-70-year-old man who could soon lead the free world. And Bornstein's letter raised roughly as many questions as it tried to answer, given the errors and typos it contained and the fact that it read, well, a lot like something Trump himself would write.
Bornstein admitted in the NBC interview that he was at least somewhat influenced by the kinds of words Trump uses.
NBC NEWS: Is that the way that you write most of your medical letters? BORNSTEIN: No, but for Mr. Trump, I wrote that letter that way. NBC NEWS: Did he ask you to describe it that way? Or do you pick up his kind of language by spending time with him?
BORNSTEIN: I think I probably picked up his kind of language and then just interpreted it to my own. Got it. While the strangeness of the doctor's letter was largely laughed off and forgotten at the time — perhaps given it was back during a time when many were still convinced Trump wouldn't actually win the Republican nomination — it has resurfaced in recent days. Trump himself has played a big role in its reemergence, by raising suspicions and feeding conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton's health.
Of all the problems with the letter — and there are more than a few — the biggest may be the hyperbole. Doctors are trained to be circumspect and not draw conclusions that aren't supported by facts. Bornstein's letter, quite simply, didn't sound as though it were written by a serious-minded doctor who had given it the kind of thought it warranted. And in his interview with NBC, Bornstein seemed to confirm it wasn't. "In the rush, I think some of those words didn't come out exactly the way they were meant," he said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...tter-just-got-stranger/?tid=pm_politics_pop_b
Needless to say, this isn't a fantastic way to write a sober-minded review of the health of a now-70-year-old man who could soon lead the free world. And Bornstein's letter raised roughly as many questions as it tried to answer, given the errors and typos it contained and the fact that it read, well, a lot like something Trump himself would write.
Bornstein admitted in the NBC interview that he was at least somewhat influenced by the kinds of words Trump uses.
NBC NEWS: Is that the way that you write most of your medical letters? BORNSTEIN: No, but for Mr. Trump, I wrote that letter that way. NBC NEWS: Did he ask you to describe it that way? Or do you pick up his kind of language by spending time with him?
BORNSTEIN: I think I probably picked up his kind of language and then just interpreted it to my own. Got it. While the strangeness of the doctor's letter was largely laughed off and forgotten at the time — perhaps given it was back during a time when many were still convinced Trump wouldn't actually win the Republican nomination — it has resurfaced in recent days. Trump himself has played a big role in its reemergence, by raising suspicions and feeding conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton's health.
Of all the problems with the letter — and there are more than a few — the biggest may be the hyperbole. Doctors are trained to be circumspect and not draw conclusions that aren't supported by facts. Bornstein's letter, quite simply, didn't sound as though it were written by a serious-minded doctor who had given it the kind of thought it warranted. And in his interview with NBC, Bornstein seemed to confirm it wasn't. "In the rush, I think some of those words didn't come out exactly the way they were meant," he said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...tter-just-got-stranger/?tid=pm_politics_pop_b
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