No, Trump did not sit on a ‘mat’ for a Fox News interview | indy100

Fox News/YouTube

The health and fitness of US president Donald Trump has long been a talking point for Americans, what with his past diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency, his appearing to fall asleep at numerous public events, and the handful of cognitive tests he’s had to take.

And now, a Fox & Friends interview is circulating on X/Twitter with the claim that the 80-year-old sat on a ‘mat’ while chatting to the presenting team.

One prominent account to push the claim was political commentator Sarrah Bellus, who took to X/Twitter on Wednesday and tweeted: “I wish people would stop spreading scurrilous rumours that President Trump is constantly s***ting himself in public. After all, it’s perfectly normal to place a black mat underneath him when he visited the Fox News studio with its white sofa yesterday…”:

“Why is Trump sitting on a black mat on a white sofa? Thoughts,” asked another account:

A third responded with laughing emojis:

And screenwriter Josh Olson shared Bellus’ tweet with three exclamation marks:

Others, meanwhile, criticised the “ableism” behind the ridicule, with one writing: “It’s not inherently embarrassing or evil to have incontinence problems, which are a frequent aspect of severe disability. Yet many of you act like the fact that he craps his pants is more important than the f***ing camps”:

And that isn’t even what happened.

For starters, Trump didn’t appear on Fox News “yesterday” (so Tuesday), and per a Snopes fact check, the image actually came from an interview which took place in October 2024.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Looking at the original interview, Trump is seen sitting down on the sofa with the presenting team, and what X/Twitter users have claimed is a ‘mat’ is actually the ends of his suit.

So that’s that.

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