California Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking a playful swipe at Donald Trump over the White House’s glowing description of the president’s recent MRI results.
In a spoof memo dated Monday, Dec. 1 and signed by “Dr. Dolittle, Physician to the Governor, California Department of Peak Excellence,” Newsom, 58, and his team lampooned Trump, 79, after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared details of the abdominal and cardiovascular scans the president underwent in October.
A memo from White House physician Sean Barbabella said Trump’s results from both tests were “perfectly normal,” and emphasized that the MRIs were “preventative.”
“This level of detailed assessment is standard for an executive physical at President Trump’s age and confirms that he remains in excellent overall health,” Barbabella said, according to the memo Leavitt read during Monday’s briefing.
In response, Newsom’s office released its own tongue-in-cheek “summary” of the governor’s “advanced imaging results.”
“I’m pleased to report that nothing about the Governor’s health is merely ‘normal,’ ” the jokey memo declared. “Governor Newsom remains the healthiest human currently alive or recorded in medical history.”
The spoof went on to say that Newsom’s cardiovascular scans were “the best we’ve ever recorded,” describing his arteries as “shimmering.”
“His resting heart rate was so steady the EKG machine asked if he was ‘meditating or just naturally enlightened,'” the memo continued, adding that his bone density was so “exceptional” that “a radiologist briefly wondered if we’d scanned a redwood.”
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“His brain imaging showed no issues other than an unusually active region associated with intelligence, multitasking, and being wildly productive before sunrise,” the memo added.
The mock report then drew a pointed comparison to Trump, noting, “While we do not typically comment on the health of other elected officials, we are aware of a letter released today from the White House claiming that President Trump is in ‘excellent health.’ “
Seeming to reference recent pictures of Trump with his eyes closed during a meeting at the White House, the memo continued, “We’ll simply note that Governor Newsom completes full workdays without falling asleep in meetings, does not require ‘executive time’ to lie down and watch TV during work hours, and is able to stand upright without looking like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.”
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The satire followed Leavitt’s public rundown of Trump’s MRI results, reportedly taken during an Oct. 10 visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Trump had earlier told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Nov. 30 that he had “no idea” what part of his body had been scanned, but was certain “it wasn’t the brain.”
Trump’s remarks came after a reporter asked about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s calls for him to release the results, following Trump’s use of a derogatory term to describe the Democratic nominee for vice president in the 2024 election.
“If you want to have it released, I’ll release it,” Trump said while returning to Washington, D.C., from Florida, according to a clip shared by the White House.
When pressed on which body part had been scanned during the MRI, Trump told CBS News’ Weijia Jiang, “I have no idea … it wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.”
