Trump’s tweet:
“The ramp that I descended after my West Point Commencement speech was very long & steep, had no handrail and, most importantly, was very slippery. The last thing I was going to do is ‘fall’ for the Fake News to have fun with. Final ten feet I ran down to level ground. Momentum!”
Trying to be both snarky and fair at the same time, I tweeted this with trending hashtags.
It was seen over three thousand times:
My own use of a trending hashtags is no doubt what drew people to see the tweet. It might have gotten even more impressions had I known that the incident has earned itself a “gate” suffix: #rampgate (link).
I question whether Trump falsely characterized the ramp as too steep. After looking up ramp incline recommendations (here) and trying to judge visually whether the West Point ramp slope was too steep. I decided it may very well have been. I do question his saying it was slippery since it seemed to be sunny day.
I see his not being able to pronounce General MacArthur ("McGarther") and pronouncing General Grant’s first name, Ulyssius or “you — liss — E — uss” as more indicative of cognitive impairment than his unsteady gait on the ramp. To me he just walked like an old man who gets no exercise and who is trying to balance his hefty mass on too thin legs.
Trump, in his inimitable way, managed to throw gasoline on a fire he’d have been better off to ignore. This is how RAWSTORY reported on his reaction yesterday:
#TrumpIsNotWell is top trending topic on Twitter after the president struggled with simple tasks on Saturday
This is how the story developed overnight on RAWSTORY:
Donald Trump’s late Saturday night tweet blaming his problems walking down a ramp at West Point after delivering a commencement address to graduating cadets was roundly ridiculed on Twitter for increasing interest in what exactly happened – as well as his problem drinking from a glass of water.
With the Twitter deluged with commenters asking about the president’s health in light of the widely shared video, the president chose to throw fuel on the fire and comment on it.
“The ramp that I descended after my West Point Commencement speech was very long & steep, had no handrail and, most importantly, was very slippery. The last thing I was going to do is ‘fall’ for the Fake News to have fun with. Final ten feet I ran down to level ground. Momentum!” the president wrote, leading to one commenter to create the #Rampgate hashtag.
Here’s how Business Insider covered the story:
Trump blames 'very slippery' ramp with 'no handrail' after videos showed him walking unsteadily after his West Point speech
.
Here’s an example of coverage in the U.K.
If you watch the video below you can see that the general next to him seemed to glance down a few times even though he was much more confident and not pursing his lips like a fish the way Trump did (see my main illustration).
You will also note from the video that Trump totally lied saying that he ran down the final ten feet to round level. He walked rapidly merely the last two feet once he could focus his eyes on level ground.
Trump for once is probably correct about something. From what I could tell by looking at ramp slope recommendations online wet or not the ramp was indeed too steep. It wasn’t too long as Trump said, it probably wasn’t long enough.
Should we draw conclusions about his physical health just from the ramp walk? I don’t think so, but why not play “turnabout is fair play” and mock him unfairly and unmercifully for this? I won’t do it but I am not holier than thou and won't condemn anyone who does it.
Meanwhile, Trump may be demanding that heads role at West Point because someone decided place a ramp which may or may not have really been slippery instead of stairs in front of the podium. He can, after all, manage to walk down the stairs from Air Force One more or less confidently (you be the judge):
Compare how Trump walked down the stairs to the two men who followed him.
Addendum:
I still only managed by trail and error get a gif to work on Daily Kos once a few day ago. I don’t remember how I did it. To see this gif of Trump as a baby click here.