Former President Donald Trump said in an interview Friday that only a “bad call from a doctor” about a medical condition would keep him from running in the next presidential election.
Trump hasn’t declared that he’ll run again, but he has dropped several hints.
Asked on “The Water Cooler,” a program on the conservative channel Real America’s Voice, what would prevent him from running, Trump responded: “I guess a bad call from a doctor or something, right? You get that call, they say ... ’Come on down here and see us because we had a bad report.’”
He added, “Things happen, through God, they happen. But I feel so good.”
Until Joe Biden, 78, was inaugurated, Trump, who is now 75, was the oldest president ever at the start of his term.
During a visit to a police precinct near Trump Tower on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Trump was asked by one of the officers if he was going to run for president.
“Oh, that’s a tough question,” Trump teased, before adding, “Actually, it’s an easy question. I know what I’m going to do, but we’re not supposed to be talking about it yet. ... But I think you’re going to be very happy.”
Trump said that he was holding off on an announcement because of “campaign finance laws, which, frankly are ridiculous.” The longer Trump delays declaring that he’s a candidate, the longer he can continue to fundraise while dodging contribution reporting requirements.
As for health issues, Trump revealed on “The Water Cooler” that he did “pretty much the opposite” of what Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told him to do to combat COVID-19.
“He was there for like 40 years or something, right? He was part of the furniture,” Trump said. “If you think about it, I really did pretty much the opposite of whatever he said.”
More than 400,000 Americans died of COVID-19 during the Trump administration.