After years of attacking opponents for their health, physical appearances, and mental capacities, a Republican rival said Thursday that President Donald Trump faces an "apotheosis of karma."
Trump, known for his conspiracy theories, attacking his opponents from Hillary Clinton to Ben Carson and challenging former President Barack Obama's birth certificate, is now facing his toughest battle yet — convincing the American public (and the world) that he is well.
Trump appeared displeased with rumors that surfaced online over Labor Day weekend that he had died, HuffPost reported.
“It’s the apotheosis of karma for the man who pretended Hillary was on death’s door,” said Rick Wilson, a veteran anti-Trump Republican political consultant. “Mr. ‘Low Stamina’ is now the butt of his own joke.”
Wilson broke from the Republican Party in 2016 after Trump seized control of it. He indicated that the jokes MAGA leader once told about others are now circling back to haunt him.
On Tuesday, Trump blamed "fake news" in a press conference after learning that rumors had circulated about his death.
“Well, it’s fake news. You know, it’s just so ― it’s so fake, that’s why the media has so little credibility,” Trump said, connecting the social media rumors to the media.
Critics have defined this gaslighting technique as DARVO (deny, attack, reverse victim and offender) — a strategy used to shift blame and make oneself a victim, the Hill reports.
Trump in 2016 called Jeb Bush "low energy," insinuating he lacked the stamina for the job. And in the 2015 primary, as Carson jumped ahead in the polls, he called the neurosurgeon a sociopath and claimed he was violent.
“He went after his mother with a hammer and he wanted to hit his mother over the head with a hammer, that he stabbed somebody, that he hit somebody in the face with a lock. He wanted to, he smashed somebody’s face with a lock, with a padlock and other things,” Trump said. “He’s got a pathological temper or something.”
Carson contracted the COVID-19 virus after attending Trump’s election night watch party in the White House East Room.
In 2016, Trump targeted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and referred to him as "unhinged."
“Ted Cruz is a totally unstable individual. He is the single biggest liar I’ve ever come across, in politics or otherwise, and I have seen some of the best of them,” Trump said.
He also added the next day that Cruz has "mental problems."
In the 2020 presidential race, he turned his attention to President Joe Biden.
“Joe is shot. He’s mentally shot,” Trump said. “Joe is not mentally equipped to be president, that I can tell you right now.”
He used a similar tactic on Kamala Harris, who was dubbed the nominee after the first debate between Trump and Biden.
“I have just seen Kamala’s Report, and it is not good. According to her Doctor’s Report, she suffers from ‘urticaria,’ defined as ‘a rash of round, red welts on the skin that itch intensely, sometimes with dangerous swelling,’” he wrote on social media. “She also has ‘allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis,’ a very messy and dangerous situation. These are deeply serious conditions that clearly impact her functioning.”
The White House continues to battle negative comments about Trump's health.