Washington: A lot is riding on the missing 31lb – or 14kg.
Consider – in his usual understated way, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump promised "perfection" while tweeting on his health as a prospective candidate during the GOP primaries season.
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Trump gives medical report to TV doctor
Donald Trump handed over a one page summary of his recent physical to Dr Oz during a recording of his syndicated television show.
But according to conflicting accounts of a pre-recorded session of the daytime Dr Oz TV show, from which reporters were barred, Trump's weight was revealed to be either 236lb (107kg) or 267lb (121kg) – by the first of which he would be merely "overweight", but by the second "obese", according to the body mass index standards of the US Centre for Disease Control.
Trump tells the doctor he'd like to shed 15lb to 20lb and it's revealed that he takes statins, which controls cholesterol and blood pressure. On exercise, Trump claims that his wild gesticulating while speaking in public is sufficient; on diet, he prefers McDonald's because "at least you know what they're putting in it".
The show airs in the US on Thursday local time – in the midst of intense debate on the wellbeing of the presidential candidates, particularly the Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton who collapsed in New York on Sunday while attempting to stick to her campaign schedule, despite being diagnosed 48 hours earlier with a bout of pneumonia.
And after months in which Trump and his surrogates have had Clinton on a gurney of their imagining, diagnosing myriad ailments that they argue disqualify her from serving, Clinton supporters this week have tried to swing the focus to Trump – particularly his weight and his penchant for fast food.
Senate minority leader Harry Reid is questioning Trump's weight and former Obama adviser David Plouffe, tweeted that as a candidate, Trump would rival the portly President William Taft who weighed in at 354lb (160kg) when he was inaugurated in 1909.
By the standard of past presidential contests neither candidate is levelling with voters – in 2008, GOP candidate John McCain, who at 71 was about the same age as Trump (70) and Clinton (68), released more than 1173 pages of his medical history.
As a pair of oldies, the 2016 candidates have skimped it – Clinton released two pages by her doctor; Trump released a gushing, hastily written four paragraphs by his doctor and, in a promotional clip from his encounter with the controversial Dr Mehmet Oz, he's shown handing over another two pages. And in the wake of Sunday's drama, the Clinton campaign is promising to release more information this week.
But in handing over a letter that falls well short of a full medical history, apparently written after a check-up last week, Trump added to confusion about how much information he intends to release.
If Trump wins the election he would be the oldest candidate to take the White House.
As the Clinton crisis unfolded on Sunday, he undertook to release "very, very specific" results. On Wednesday morning, his campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told CNN that Trump would not be releasing full medical records on Dr Oz – and later another aide said this did "not necessarily" mean that he had changed his mind about publishing them.
But as often is the case with Trump, it was never entirely clear what he would or might release – a voluminous, McCain-like account of his health over a decade, or another doctor's letter, with or without the results of a contemporary batch of tests.
Some light was shed on thinking in the Trump bunker when Conway told MSNBC: "I'm with Dr Oz and millions of Americans on this – I don't know why we need such extensive medical reporting when we all have a right to privacy".
Any expectation that Dr Oz might subject Trump to a searing, or even a gently probing examination of his health was dashed when the doctor said last week that he was "not going to ask [Trump] questions he doesn't want to answer" – which suggests that in advance, he had surrendered control of the interview to Trump.
Clinton is expected to rejoin the campaign on Thursday – in a campaign statement on Wednesday, her doctor said that she "continues to improve" after a "mild, non-contagious condition" that had been detected in a CT scan. "She is recovering well with antibiotics and rest … she continues to remain healthy and fit to serve as president of the US," it said.
Meanwhile, another campaign observer has had both candidates on the couch – metaphorically speaking.
A batch of hacked and leaked emails by former Republican secretary of state Colin Powell reveal his unvarnished thoughts on Trump and Clinton.
Powell on Trump: "A national disgrace … international pariah … racist … [takes African Americans] for idiots … no sense of shame."
Powell on Clinton: "Everything she touches she kind of screws up with hubris … the media isn't fooled and she's getting crucified [on the issue of her private email server] ... I would rather not have to vote for her, although she is a friend I respect … a 70-year-old person with a long track record, unbridled ambition, greedy, not transformational, with a husband still dicking bimbos at home [according to the New York Post]."
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