Over Labor Day weekend, much of the internet briefly convinced itself that the president of the United States was dead. President Trump had been off his public schedule for several days, his hand bruised and covered with makeup, his ankles visibly swollen. TikTok influencers insisted that old photos were being recycled. Reddit threads speculated about a cover-up. Even after Trump reappeared, golfing in Virginia and flooding his social media with posts, skeptics claimed the footage must be fake. “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE!” Trump wrote online . But the reassurance only fueled more suspicion.

The feverish rumor cycle was the most intense yet in a long history of conjecture about Trump’s health. And eight months into his second term, it revealed less about the president himself than abo

See Full Page