A decade into Donald Trump’s political career, we’re all a little numb to his bizarre and dangerous behavior. The president called for Barack Obama’s arrest in a Truth Social post? Wouldn’t be the first time. Now he’s insisting Tylenol causes autism? Not great, but I stopped taking Dr. Trump’s advice back when he prescribed injecting bleach.
Yet Trump actually managed to shock people over the weekend. He posted what appeared to be a Fox News report on his Oval Office announcement about the launch of “medbed” hospitals that will “restore every citizen to full health.” The Truth Social post was like a Russian doll of fake news, as:
While the president’s daughter-in-law does host a Fox News show, a spokesperson for the network confirmed to multiple outlets, “The video did not air on My View with Lara Trump on Fox News Channel or any other Fox News Media platforms.”
So what the heck is going on here? “Medbeds” are a well-known conspiracy theory. As Rolling Stone explained, for years QAnon-types have been claiming that elites have magical healing beds that they’ve been hiding from the public:
The med bed conspiracy theory has emerged in recent years among far-right online communities. McGill University’s Office for Science and Society reported that, according to believers, med beds are a top secret technology possessed by militaries around the world. Believers claim these devices can diagnose and cure any disease, reverse aging, and even re-grow missing limbs in a matter of minutes. These med bed devices allegedly use ions, terahertz light waves, frequencies and resonances, AI, and quantum technology to heal disease and regenerate DNA. Eventually, the militaries with med bed technology will collaborate to end all war and bring these healing tools to the masses, according to the theory’s followers. QAnon believers have also latched onto this theory, with some claiming that John F. Kennedy Jr. is alive and well thanks to these devices.
But everything else here is a mystery. Does Trump know that he never really touted medbeds from the Oval Office? Is he aware that this is AI slop? Who made the video? Does Trump think medbeds are real? Did a staffer post this without his permission? Why did he delete the video? We just don’t know!
That’s pretty unsettling, and it does give you a tiny bit of sympathy toward medbed enthusiasts, who have concluded that this is some kind of secret message confirming their greatest hope:
This is, obviously, nuts. But “Trump did this on purpose and wants us to know the magical healing beds are coming” is a much more comforting thought than “the president of the United States is out of his mind and has no idea what he’s saying in public.”