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As Donald Trump began speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon, many Americans were less interested in what he had to say than how he looked. Was he wearing more makeup than usual? Any new visible bruises? Was he steady? It was perhaps a reasonable response after much of social media had spent several days declaring Trump on his death bed—or worse.

After years of being told Trump is the model of health, an exemplar of youth, and a man always in his prime, there is well-earned skepticism about his wellbeing—so much so that the public is conditioned to doubt even their own eyes when it comes to Trump’s existence. Trump’s unhinged cognitive swerves—a

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