Trump Suggests Controversial Photo of Him That Leftists Pounced on 'Was AI'

By George C. Upper III February 1, 2024 at 9:28am

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Teamsters union members in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, former President Donald Trump appeared not to have heard anything about the recent “controversy” caused by a picture of him that appeared to show red splotches of some sort on one of his hands.

Fox News’ Mark Meredith noted that “It looks like it’s better now,” and Trump responded, “My hand?”

Meredith asked what had caused the red spots that had been photographed and led to a number of unsavory theories on social media from Trump’s detractors, and the former president appeared to have no idea what he was talking about.

“You don’t want to tell us what happened with the hand?” Meredith asked.

“Nothing,” Trump insisted. “Maybe it’s AI.”

Trump makes reporters laugh with joke about his hand.

Two weeks ago when he left for the second defamation trial involving E. Jean Carroll, Trump was spotted with unusual red marks on one of his hands.

“What was wrong with it?… Maybe it was AI” 😂

The details about the red… pic.twitter.com/mL7mANX39a

— TP Breaking Alerts (@tpbreaking) January 31, 2024

“After showing the exchange between Trump and Meredith on Fox News’ ‘America Reports,’ co-host Sandra Smith said: ‘Remarkable that he didn’t even know about all the speculation and coverage of those hands,'” Newsweek said, adding that it had reached out to the Trump campaign for further comment.

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The Western Journal covered that speculation at the time and noted that later pictures of Trump’s hand seemed to disprove all of the theories.

Those theories ranged from the former president having injured himself in a fall to leprosy, as Newsweek noted.

There were also folks, presumably not Trump fans, who got the hashtag #SyphilisDon trending on X on the “evidence” of the one photo.

Lots of people are saying @realDonaldTrump has syphilis 🤔 #SyphilisDon pic.twitter.com/OGl83oYvxG

— The Majority (@TheMajorityUSA) January 19, 2024

Business Insider did an entire article on the issue, interviewing a professor of dermatology who speculated that it was most likely Trump was suffering from some sort of rash.

“Dr. Joshua Zeichner, an associate professor of dermatology at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, told Business Insider that Trump most likely had a rash — which could be caused by almost anything,” the outlet reported.

Zeichner suggested four possible causes for such a rash: dry hands, blisters from golf, lime juice … and the aforementioned “almost anything.”

“Unless the former president confirms what caused the marks, we may never actually know,” Business Insider concluded.

Based on Trump’s comments Wednesday, it appears that even he doesn’t know what happened — or at least that he’s not going to share the information if he does.

A Note from Our Deputy Managing Editor:

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The Western Journal

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Donald Trump, Health, Photo, Reporter, Social media, U.S. News, Video

George C. Upper III

Contributing Editor

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George Upper is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Western Journal and was a weekly co-host of "WJ Live," powered by The Western Journal. He is currently a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. A former U.S. Army special operator, teacher and consultant, he is a lifetime member of the NRA and an active volunteer leader in his church. Born in Foxborough, Massachusetts, he has lived most of his life in central North Carolina.

@georgeupper

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George Upper, is the former editor-in-chief of The Western Journal and is now a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. He currently serves as the connections pastor at Awestruck Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is a former U.S. Army special operator, teacher, manager and consultant. Born in Massachusetts, he graduated from Foxborough High School before joining the Army and spending most of the next three years at Fort Bragg. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English as well as a Master's in Business Administration, all from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He and his wife life only a short drive from his three children, their spouses and his grandchildren. He is a lifetime member of the NRA and in his spare time he shoots, reads a lot of Lawrence Block and John D. MacDonald, and watches Bruce Campbell movies. He is a fan of individual freedom, Tommy Bahama, fine-point G-2 pens and the Oxford comma.

Birthplace

Foxborough, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Honors/Awards

Beta Gamma Sigma

Education

B.A., English, UNCG; M.A., English, UNCG; MBA, UNCG

Location

North Carolina

Languages Spoken

English