Despite having spent years ignoring seemingly endless Joe Biden gaffes and signs of mental and physical decline, NBC’s Today decided Tuesday it was going to take presidential health seriously by painting President Trump’s cognitive and physical health for office as “under a growing spotlight” with voters having serious doubts about his ability to remain in office.
“To Washington now, President Trump heading to Walter Reed National Military Center for what the White House calls a medical and dental checkup. It’s his third visit in 13 months and puts a spotlight on the President’s health ahead of his 80th birthday next month,” co-host Savannah Guthrie began in the 91-second story.
WATCH: NBC’s ‘Today’ spends 91 seconds warning Trump going to Walter Reed for a physical today places “a growing spotlight” “on the President’s health ahead of his 80th birthday” and the “visible health issues” include “bruising on his hand,” “swelling on his lower legs,” and… pic.twitter.com/DYDNFBfesJ
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 26, 2026
Chief White House correspondent Garrett Haake framed everything as a he-said, she-said with the White House assertions being viewed as the proverbial eye-roll of skepticism.
“[T]he White House says this is just a routine doctor’s visit for President Trump, but as he approaches that 80th birthday, his physical and mental health are under a growing spotlight. Now, the President has had some visible health issues that he and his doctors say are minor,” Haake said.
He also noted “bruising on his hand which he says is from aspirin usage and too many hard handshakes and there’s swelling on his lower legs, which his doctors say come from a common vain condition.”
The NBC reporter also threw in with the deranged Bluesky Brigade by giving full credence (as though it were fact) to the claim that Trump “has appeared to doze off in some recent White House events, which he and the White House say are not actually what we see.”
Haake seemed to suggest a possible reason for the external visit versus something that could be handled at the White House by general physicians, acknowledging “specialized testing like the CT scan conducted on his heart and abdomen last October, can only be done when he’s offsite.”
Haake concluded with polling from another network to boost this wink, wink, nudge, nudge that something — anything — is wrong with Trump’s fitness to remain President:
Now, this all comes as recent polling from The Washington Post and ABC said 40 percent of Americans believes the President has the mental sharpness to do what is one of the world’s toughest jobs. That’s a seven-point drop from September. And, in terms of his physical capacity, that number stands at 44 percent, a ten-point drop from eight months ago. Now, for his part, the President said back in February that he feels decades younger than his 79 years[.]
As is often the case, a trip back into the NewsBusters archives reveals a clearing double standard.
Our Geoff Dickens found in May 2024 that NBC (along with ABC and CBS) had ignored seven Biden gaffes in the spring, ranging from falsely claiming women have sent him lewd photos to insisting a teacher of his was drafted by the Green Bay Packers to declaring he used to know how to drive an 18-wheel and saved lives as a lifeguard.
In March 2024, Dickens chronicled the lack of network coverage (including from NBC) for Biden claiming the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge had rails, falsely referring to the late Laken Riley as Lincoln Riley to urging voters to elect him as a congressman to saying the riot at the Capitol happened on July 6 instead of January 6.
He found NBC spent only 52 seconds on Biden mixing up Egypt and Mexico.
Rewinding to 2022 and 2023, Dickens reported NBC Nightly News never called out Biden for declaring his late son Beau “died” in Iraq and our then-colleague Scott Whitlock relayed they skipped Biden’s deranged tale about his house having burned down.
But perhaps the most jarring Biden slippage came in September 2022 when Biden called out to a dead congresswoman in a crowd. That too wasn’t on the radar of NBC’s Today or Nightly News.
And don’t forget this humdinger NBC shows ignored, which was a creepy May 2021 compliment paid to a child at a military event in Hampton, Virginia.
To see the relevant NBC transcript from May 26, click “expand.”
NBC’s Today
May 26, 2026
7:10 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Trump Set to Undergo Annual Physical]
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: To Washington now, President Trump heading to Walter Reed National Military Center for what the White House calls a medical and dental checkup. It’s his third visit in 13 months and puts a spotlight on the President’s health ahead of his 80th birthday next month. NBC’s chief White House correspondent Garrett Haake has more. Garrett, good morning.
GARRETT HAAKE: Hey, Savannah, good morning. Look, the White House says this is just a routine doctor’s visit for President Trump, but as he approaches that 80th birthday, his physical and mental health are under a growing spotlight. Now, the President has had some visible health issues that he and his doctors say are minor. He’s been seen with bruising on his hand which he says is from aspirin usage and too many hard handshakes and there’s swelling on his lower legs, which his doctors say come from a common vain condition. He has appeared to doze off in some recent White House events, which he and the White House say are not actually what we see. The President receives regular medical care here at the White House, but some specialized testing like the CT scan conducted on his heart and abdomen last October, can only be done when he’s offsite. Now, this all comes as recent polling from The Washington Post and ABC said 40 percent of Americans believes the President has the mental sharpness to do what is one of the world’s toughest jobs. That’s a seven-point drop from September. And, in terms of his physical capacity, that number stands at 44 percent, a ten-point drop from eight months ago. Now, for his part, the President said back in February that he feels decades younger than his 79 years, Savannah.
GUTHRIE: Garrett Haake at the White House, thank you.
