During a recent press conference, President Trump claimed to be taking the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to advise him against doing so, due to his age and, well...the shape he's in.
Hydroxychloroquine has long been an obsession of President Trump's despite a lack of scientific evidence proving its value.
Trump's near-constant support of the drug has drawn the rebuke of health officials, who warn it can also cause heart murmurs in certain patients. Americans have already died as a result of using the drug in misguided attempts to fight the virus.
On Anderson Cooper 360, Nancy Pelosi expressed her concern that President Trump should not be taking the drug because he is "morbidly obese."
.@SpeakerPelosi just said that Trump shouldn't take Plaquenil because he is "morbidly obese." Don't RT this or it'… https://t.co/VKgK5G2mBk— Fred Guttenberg (@Fred Guttenberg)1589852519.0
Speaker Pelosi tells @AC360 it’s not a good idea for President Trump to be taking hydroxychloroquine because of his… https://t.co/ksA1cvkrOa— John Harwood (@John Harwood)1589849496.0
Trump still can't respond to @SpeakerPelosi's "morbidly obese" takedown last night. Looks like she broke him.— Tea Pain (@Tea Pain)1589906051.0
Some online felt there were plenty of ways to criticize the President without attacking him for his weight.
Nobody cares about Trump's weight. But the weight of evidence against him for corruption, obstruction of justices a… https://t.co/0cl3nbpPzp— Richard W. Painter (@Richard W. Painter)1589904077.0
Others felt that the attack was fair game considering what Trump has said in the past.
Every single time Trump is challenged by a strong competent woman he tries to bring her down by mocking her appeara… https://t.co/NBGq3TfSrr— Nate Lerner (@Nate Lerner)1589900805.0
With regard to fat shaming, I think we have much bigger fish to fry and I'm not going to waste energy debating whet… https://t.co/lSv7NPHskE— Rep Richard Dangler (@Rep Richard Dangler)1589904459.0
First the White House press corps, and now Speaker Pelosi. Seeing women kick Trump’s a** is incredibly satisfying.— Hamish Mitchell (@Hamish Mitchell)1589906466.0
.@SpeakerPelosi calling @realDonaldTrump "morbidly obese" is the type of substance-free, high profile thing that sh… https://t.co/F3yEFd0QJL— Cenk Uygur (@Cenk Uygur)1589903982.0
Whether you agreed with Pelosi's words or not, the hashtags #PresidentPlump, #TrumpMorbidlyObese, and #GirtherMovement all started trending on Twitter.
When you wake up and see #PresidentPlump & #TrumpMorbidlyObese trending... https://t.co/wVrzTOmPBf— Alvin aqua Blanco (@Alvin aqua Blanco)1589893376.0
I have no idea why #PresidentPlump and #TrumpMorbidlyObese are trending. That seems mean and petty. https://t.co/BIhFdeFK4N— Greg Tannen (@Greg Tannen)1589890986.0
I come back to twitter to see the #GirtherMovement trending https://t.co/XH4x3kjioS— ABlackWomanWhoDontGiveAF*ck (@ABlackWomanWhoDontGiveAF*ck)1589894585.0
Waking up to see #GirtherMovement & #PresidentPlump is pure joy. Can we keep them going? Please? https://t.co/KqsQhvsjuf— Langdon Bosarge (@Langdon Bosarge)1589898506.0
There were many online who doubted Trump was taking the drug at all.
1. There’s no way that this old, morbidly obese man with high cholesterol is actually taking Hydroxychloroquine. 2… https://t.co/EoNaUvS8kO— Angry Staffer (@Angry Staffer)1589898988.0
There are, of course, more important issues than the President's weight at play here.
As the world debates the prudence of @realDonaldTrump taking hydroxychloroquine, keep in mind that the correct word… https://t.co/yuthJF9can— John Roberts (@John Roberts)1589898783.0
NOTE: When a president takes an unapproved drug contraindicated for what he's taking it for—an illness he doesn't h… https://t.co/NU50PWQSdQ— Seth Abramson (@🏠) (@Seth Abramson (@🏠))1589903963.0
Hopefully, the President's doctors are giving him a stern talking to even now about which drugs are safe to take and which are not.
Pelosi's daughter has written a book, The Nancy Pelosi Way, available here.