Trump's reported height and weight have triggered a 'girther' conspiracy theory

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January 24, 2018 2:06 PM

The results of President Donald Trump’s first medical exam while in office were announced yesterday by his personal physician, Navy doctor Ronny Jackson.

Heres what to know about the movement questioning Trumps medical exam

The results of President Donald Trump’s first medical exam while in office were announced yesterday by his personal physician, Navy doctor Ronny Jackson. Among other things, the doctor stated that the 6’3”, 239-pound president was in “excellent health,” and even passed a cognitive assessment with a perfect score.

While the transparency of the report was apparently intended to clear the air about the president’s mental health status, it instead birthed a conspiracy theory about his reported height and weight that is exploding across Twitter: the “Girther Movement.”

It all started with a tweet by political commentator Chris Hayes, asking if anyone had yet to coin the term “girther” in reference to the president’s reported weight.

The term “girther” is a play on the term “birther,” which President Trump has used repeatedly since 2011 in reference to the legitimacy of former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Now the tables seem to have turned on the now-president, with the legitimacy of his physical measurement being questioned by over 56,000 Twitter users. So far.

But it’s not just the president’s weight that people are questioning. It’s his height, too, which people have been questioning for quite some time now. Though his doctor says he's 6'3", a copy of his 2012 New York State driver's license obtained by Politico back in 2016 says he's 6'2".

A height of 6’3” and the reported 239 pounds puts the president in the “overweight” rating on the BMI scale. If he were 6’2”, the president would be classified as “obese.”

Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn took it one step further and said he’d give $100,000 to the president’s favorite charity if he stepped on a scale. In other words, he threw out a triple dog dare.

He then threw out a height comparison of his own, pointing out how Alex Rodriguez is also 6’3” but appears to have some height on the president.

If Trump's 2012 driver's license and his medical exam are both accurate, it would appear that the president has defied the effects of aging and has actually continued to grow into his 70s.

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