Post #4260029

2026-07-23 06:49 UTC

They sent out the following proof of life pic: Even if we assume that it’s genuine, the left side of his face is severely drooping and his wife seems to have to hold him up on the same side. Both indicators of paralysis of the entire left side of his body, likely due to a massive stroke. I’m no geologist, but in my strictly non-electrician estimation, it’s extremely unlikely that a stroke that bad doesn’t leave him too cognitively impaired to adequately do his job of evaluating and deciding matters of the utmost importance for 340 million people. I’m not licensed to teach judo, though.

Replies (3)

@Doom@lemmy.world 2026-07-23 07:26

I’m calling BS on that picture. If he’s in a long term hospital stay he is going to be in a gown, he’s going to have a medical bracelet, an IV, possibly oxygen and he’s going to look like hot shit because no one who has been in the hospital looks good even when they are on the road to recovery. The man isn’t even wearing a pulseox. If you’ve ever gone through it with a loved one, you know exactly what I’m talking about. So either they shoved a sick old man in jeans in a button down for a photo op (doubt) or that photo is fake as fuck. I also find the tag being on the outside of that button down shirt suspicious as fuck in an AI is stupid kind of way.

Open ##4263270
@CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml 2026-07-23 17:35

I’d go so far as to say it doesn’t even really matter at this point. If he’s alive, he’s 84 years old and from previous videos we’ve seen him fall over multiple times and blank out for long stretches mid-sentence, and he’s currently been hospitalized for over a month. He’s not physically or mentally fit to hold office. Or, he’s dead which is also traditionally a barrier to employment.

Open ##4284472
@EmpathicVagrant@lemmy.world 2026-07-24 07:29

Isn’t it a photoshop of a vacation pic from a couple years ago?

Open ##4297474