(AFP) – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday brushed off suggestions that President Donald Trump was regularly dozing off during Cabinet meetings, as questions persist over the health of the oldest US president ever inaugurated.
Testifying during a congressional hearing, Rubio was shown several video clips where Trump, 79, is seen with his eyes apparently closed while Rubio spoke beside him.
“I don’t even know how to respond to that, other than to tell you that it’s absurd and ridiculous,” Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “You may not like his policies, you may not like the decisions he’s made. But I assure you, this is not a president that sleeps or is cognitively impaired in any way, shape, or form,” Rubio added. “And in fact is incredibly active, much more so in many cases than much younger people that are around him. Those are facts.”
Rubio defended Trump, saying the US leader works non-stop and gets very little sleep. “I talk to him at all hours of the day and night. He works inhumane hours,” Rubio said.
Trump, who turns 80 on June 14, has largely avoided the scrutiny over age and fitness that shadowed Joe Biden toward the end of his term, with the Democrat prone to falls and occasional verbal stumbles.
However, questions about Trump’s fitness persist. A recent Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 59 percent of respondents believed Trump lacked the mental capacity to lead the country, while 55 percent said he lacked the physical health to do so.
Trump’s doctors declared him to be in “excellent health” after his latest check-up last week, but advised him to lose weight.
Trump has maintained a lighter public schedule in recent months than he did at the start of his second term.
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