While it is common for politicians to boast about their accomplishments, “successfully walked down ramp” is not usually the kind of achievement a president of the United States would emphasize in his messaging. But Donald Trump’s campaign is predicated on depicting his opponent, Joe Biden, as a helpless invalid, and himself as a virile and improbably healthy male who sleeps with models, or at least in the same building as them, in return for compensation commensurate with the task.
But yesterday, Trump was recorded walking gingerly down a very shallow ramp, staring intently at his feet the entire way, after his address at West Point:
Thus it became necessary for the president to insist that the harrowing 15-second journey was in fact more evidence of his athletic prowess:
Trump, quite typically, made a series of claims that are blatantly preposterous. The ramp was not steep. Nor was it long. The notion that it was “very slippery” seems hard to believe, given that the weather was dry and the general walking next to him had absolutely no difficulty. It is true there was no handrail, but this merely attests to the fact that the ramp was gentle and dry and did not require one.
The claim that he ran the final ten feet is amusing, given that he manifestly did not do so. He slightly hopped for perhaps two feet at the end, which is what you do if you’re losing control of your balance.
Obviously, having trouble walking is not on the top thousand reasons why Trump is a bad president. It’s the compulsion to lie, when there’s a video showing how silly his claims are, that is revealing. He is a frail, unhealthy man trying to run on youthful vigor. By November, Trump’s heroic sprint down a sheer 100-foot ice ramp while fighting off antifa terrorists may well be enshrined in MAGA lore.
