Donald Trump has lashed out at MSNBC after the network suggested the 79-year-old president is taking steps to hide his cankles from public view.
In a typical all-caps rant on Truth Social, Trump attacked the liberal network as “fake news” while referencing its upcoming name change to MS NOW, or My Source News Opinion World, as part of a rebrand during its split from NBCUniversal.
“MSNBC IS DOING SO POORLY IN THE RATINGS THAT THEY ARE LOOKING TO CHANGE THEIR NAME IN ORDER TO GET AWAY FROM THE STENCH OF THEIR FAKE NEWS PRODUCT,” Trump stormed.
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“SO MUCH FUN TO WATCH THEIR WEAK AND INEFFECTIVE OWNER, ‘CONCAST,’ HEADED BY DOPEY BRIAN ROBERTS, HOPELESSLY AND AIMLESSLY FLAILING IN THE WIND IN AN ATTEMPT TO DISASSOCIATE ITSELF FROM THE GARBAGE THAT THEY CREATED! MSNBC IS A FAILURE BY ANY NAME!!!”
Trump, no stranger to attacking media outlets he doesn’t like, went after MSNBC after one of its star anchors, Lawrence O’Donnell, mocked him for shielding his swollen ankles, a symptom of the medical condition chronic venous insufficiency.
During a monologue on The Last Word, O’Donnell noted that Trump took the almost unheard-of step of sitting behind the Resolute Desk during a meeting with European leaders in the Oval Office on Monday, rather than the usual spot in front of the fireplace.
O’Donnell said Trump made the move to ensure that “no one was going to compare his ankles to a French president’s ankles or a German chancellor’s or a British prime minister’s.”
Trump wasn’t so lucky when he met Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, with the two were seated in chairs out in the open.
O’Donnell quipped that the Russian president’s “72-year-old ankles showed none of the mileage” of Trump’s, whose swollen cankles were on full display.
The White House also appears to be working to hide Trump’s bloating issues, going so far as to release an official photo of his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which a model of Air Force One is conveniently positioned to block the Republican’s ankles.
Chronic venous insufficiency is common in men over 70 where weakening vein valves prevent blood from circulating properly in the legs, causing ankle swelling.
O’Donnell also suggested Trump’s love of fast food may have accelerated the health problems of the president, who has also frequently been spotted with makeup patches covering a bruise on the back of his hand.
“That’s one of the ways a lifetime of McDonald’s junk food catches up with you,” O’Donnell said. “One of the places those Big Macs are going to show up is in the ankles hanging over the edge of your shoes.”
