Donald Trump tells man at rally he looks ‘ready to have a heart attack,’ confirms his doctors would let him die if he did: ‘collateral damage’

Donald Trump has explained that if anyone suffers a medical emergency at his rallies, his doctors won’t help them out. Speaking at a rally in Bullhead City, Arizona, Trump referred to the medical team that follows him to events, but underlined that they’re for him and him alone.

After telling the crowd he’d recently “aced” a mental test, Trump said, “I travel with more doctors [indecipherable]. If people get sick in the audience, they don’t, they leave them alone. You know what they call them? Collateral damage.”

Trump then zeroed in on a man in the crowd: “If that person right over there, friend of mine, he looks like s–t actually. He looks… he looks like he’s ready to have a heart attack. If he actually had a heart attack you know what my doctors would do that follow… the president… all presidents… they would leave him alone.”

“He looks like he’s ready to have a heart attack”

Trump’s critics on social media seized on this as just the latest example of “Trump’s willingness to insult his own supporters,” wondering, “Why would these people laugh and cheer when he insults them?”

Another puts themselves in the man’s shoes: “These are the very people who showed up to support him. People who stood in line, spent their time and money, and came out to cheer him on. Imagine being that supporter, hearing the president joke about leaving you to suffer a medical emergency while the crowd laughs.”

It is unclear who Trump was actually pointing at, and we don’t know whether the person really is a “friend” to Trump or not. However, Trump is wrong to indicate that his presidential doctor, officially titled the Physician to the President, isn’t permitted to treat anyone other than him. While their top priority is the president’s health, they (or their team) are also considered responsible for the First Family, the Vice President and their family, White House staff, international dignitaries and guests of the president, and White House visitors.

Trump may be correct that rallygoers do not fall within those categories and that medical emergencies in the crowd should be dealt with by event medical staff or civilian doctors in the crowd. However, even in that instance, the official rules are that the presidential doctor can assist members of the public, so long as they’re certain it won’t pull them away from their primary protective duties.

Either way, if you undergo a medical emergency, maybe avoid doing it around Donald Trump. He’s certainly not going to leap to your aid, as this unfortunate individual who collapsed in the Oval Office discovered.