Source: Reason
by Matt Welch
“When the St. Petersburg Times first launched PolitiFact in 2007, its purpose was to assess the veracity of statements made by ‘members of Congress, the president, cabinet secretaries, lobbyists, people who testify before Congress and anyone else who speaks up in Washington.’ Fast forward to September 2025, and the trailblazing fact-checker has been reduced to informing us that ‘President Donald Trump is alive.’ Yes, and the sky is blue, and the day ends in y, even if some online randos may be memeing to the contrary. The trivial episode of Trump’s rumored demise illuminates what the future intersection of politics and information might look like. POTUSes and their handlers will go to fantastical lengths to lie about presidential health crises, history demonstrates; what changes over time is how they get away with it.” (for publication 12/25)
https://reason.com/2025/11/15/the-art-of-the-presidential-health-cover-up/