An MS NOW panel on Tuesday pulled out some unforgiving side-by-side photos to question President Donald Trump’s health and supposed weight.

On The Weeknight, Michael Steele pulled out a side-by-side photo comparison between the president and two athletes that would have similar height and weight, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold.

Steele and the panel reacted to the photos following Trump, who turns 80 next month, claiming on Tuesday that “everything checked out PERFECTLY” after a visit to Walter Reed Medical Center for a routine physical.

The panel questioned Trump’s claims about his health at such an advanced age with Steele questioning both the president’s reported weight and height.

He said:

There’s a great picture of Trump side-by-side with athletes who supposedly carry the same dimensions as the president, let’s just put it that way. Last April, the White House physician claimed that Donald Trump was 6’3″, I’m 6’4″, Donald Trump is a lot shorter than me, just to note that, and 224 pounds, so let’s take a look. Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf is 6’4, 229 pounds. He has 4% body fat. Donald Trump claims the doctor said he has 5% body fat. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is 6 foot 3, 225 pounds. Now you tell me, America, and Cornell [Belcher], you can speak for them right now, as to whether those numbers look like they fit the physical imagery of the president.

“Can I just say in defense of the president, I used to lie on my driver’s license all the time. It’s that I was 150 for the last five years,” Symone Sanders joked.

Democratic strategist Cornell Belcher argued Trump has wrapped his brand in “hypermasculinity,” requiring him to play to a specific physical image.

“Putting his head on the body of a Greek Adonis and saying that’s Trump,” Steele added.

Belcher said:

And it’s all part of the brand. And this is where it gets really problematic because it begins to crumble when he’s falling asleep, when he can’t string together a sentence, when he clearly has visible signs of being…80 years old — there’s nothing wrong being 80 years old, I hope that I will make it to 80, I doubt it with my drinking. — however, I think it does really — and this why they have to keep building at it because part of his brand is this idea that he’s a strong man. He is a tough guy He’s the biggest, strongest, toughest guy in the room, and he can get things done, and that begins to fall apart if you take that away from him.

Watch above via MS NOW.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!