“Gruden was golfing at the same course, wearing the same thing a week ago.”

After a number of days out of the general public eye, President Donald Trump resurfaced on-line with a photograph meant to silence rising rumors about his well being, fueled by on-line hypothesis about his look, together with claims of swollen ankles and visual bruises on his hand.

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On Sunday, Aug. 31, Trump tried to quiet these issues. He posted a picture of himself on Truth Social {golfing} with former NFL coach Jon Gruden, writing, “Great playing Golf with Jon Gruden — A really nice guy, and true character!”

Commenters steered the picture might have been from a earlier outing, noting similarities to Gruden’s Aug. 23 Instagram submit.

Trump’s golf photographs with Jon Gruden

At first look, the submit appeared easy. Trump seemed to be sitting on a golf cart and shaking palms with Gruden, who wore a Trump-branded hat. However, many individuals on-line have been fast to counsel that the picture wasn’t from this week. They matched Gruden’s outfit to an Aug. 23 Instagram submit displaying the ex-coach sporting the identical outfit, suggesting Trump’s Truth Social account used a photograph from the week prior.

“I’m not a conspiracy theory guy, but if you’re fighting off increasing rumors that you may have suffered a major medical episode and to disprove that rumor and provide proof of life, you post a picture of allegedly playing golf with Jon Gruden today, it would be beneficial to post one that wasn’t from August 23rd,” wrote retired Navy officer Travis Akers.

“So we have one picture of Trump leaving for the golf club yesterday, and another of him on his way back,” @KremlinTrolls identified on X. “No pictures of him playing golf, and he hasn’t spoken publicly for 5 days. What is the @WhiteHouse hiding?”

Despite the scrutiny, some believed the submit, with some commenting that Trump was on the “TOP OF HIS GAME!” and completely wholesome.

Although the golf outing drew consideration, Gruden’s presence additionally reignited controversy. The former Raiders coach resigned in 2021 after emails revealed racist, sexist, and homophobic language. The NFL uncovered these messages throughout a office misconduct probe, and shops just like the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times revealed excerpts.

Rumors about Trump’s well being aren’t going away

Trump’s picture drop got here after days of on-line frenzy questioning his bruised hand and evaluating it to photographs of Queen Elizabeth shortly earlier than her dying. For a lot of the previous week, of us speculated that he had suffered a medical occasion or worse. Some shared posts discussing his problem strolling, bruised palms, and verbal slip-ups. As a outcome, “proof of life” posts grew to become a recurring demand on X and Truth Social.

The Aug. 31 submit was presupposed to serve that goal, however led to much more chatter. Some customers even joked or speculated, with out proof, that the picture regarded AI-generated.

@Raineigans tweeted, “Donald Trump on his way to the golf course,” with a video of a limp man being carried alongside a ceiling-high observe inside a constructing.

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