Nancy Pelosi fat-shames Donald Trump, he says she has mental problem

Top US Democrat Nancy Pelosi has been accused of fat-shaming President Donald Trump after she called him “morbidly obese”, he fired back by saying she has a mental problem.

Mrs Pelosi cited Mr Trump’s “weight group” when asked about his disclosure that he is taking hydroxychloroquine to guard against Covid-19.

At his last physical examination, Trump, 73, weighed 243 pounds with his height being 6 feet 3 inches. That would put his body mass index at 30.4, which narrowly qualifies him in the ‘obese’ category.

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Trump revealed on Monday that he had been taking anti-malaria drug hydroxylchloroquine to prevent him from contracting Coronavirus, going against the Food and Drug Administration’s warnings that the drug was untested and unproven against Covid-19.

“I happen to be taking it,” Mr Trump said. “If it’s not good, I’ll tell you right, I’m not going to get hurt by it.”

Asked on Monday night about Mr Trump’s remarks, Mrs Pelosi said she would

“rather he [Mr Trump] not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists”.

“Especially in his age group, and in his, shall we say, weight group, morbidly obese, they say,” the US House of Representatives speaker said.

‘Pelosi is a sick woman. She’s got a lot of problems, a lot of mental problems,’ President Trump said during a visit to Capitol Hill where he had lunch with Senate Republicans.

Epidemiologist Abdul El-Sayed, a CNN commentator, tweeted on Tuesday that Mrs Pelosi’s remarks would only reinforce the stigma around obesity.

Sorry, calling Trump #morbidlyobese just ain't it.

It perpetuates a culture of political mudslinging that allows honest criticism of the dangerous things he's done to be dismissed as petty partisanship.

Also, fat-shaming drives obesity stigma. It's not cool or funny.

Focus.

— Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) May 19, 2020