Politics

REPORT: Pence Was Put On Standby To Assume Presidency During Trump’s Unannounced Hospital Visit In 2019

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Anders Hagstrom White House Correspondent
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Vice President Mike Pence was placed on standby to temporarily assume the presidency when President Donald Trump made an unannounced visit to Walter Reed Hospital in November 2019, according to a new book from New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt.

The White House did not specify the nature of Trump’s visit at the time beyond saying he was undergoing various health tests ahead of the 2020 campaign season according to CNN, which obtained a copy of Schmidt’s upcoming book.

“In the hours leading up to Trump’s trip to the hospital, word went out in the West Wing for the vice president to be on standby to take over the powers of the presidency temporarily if Trump had to undergo a procedure that would have required him to be anesthetized,” the book reportedly reads.

Trump took to Twitter to criticize Schmidt’s alleged claims soon after they were reported on Tuesday.

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump wears a mask as he visits Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland' on July 11, 2020. (Photo by ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

TOPSHOT – US President Donald Trump wears a mask as he visits Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on July 11, 2020. (Photo by ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The report may reignite speculation around the hospital visit, which already had the media asking questions in 2019 about why the visit was left off the White House schedule if it was merely for annual physical exams. (RELATED: CNN’s Conspiracy Coverage Of Trump’s Supposed Health Scare Could Actually Be A Real Problem)

The continued speculation around Trump’s health at the time led to frustration on the part of the president, saying the media was engaging in conspiracies.

“I went for a physical and I came back. My wife said, ‘Darling are you okay? What’s wrong? Oh, they’re reporting you may have had a heart attack,’” Trump said. “I went, I did a very routine, just a piece of it, the rest of it takes place in January, did a very routine physical. Visited the family, visited a couple of groups … I toured the hospital for a little while. I was out of there very quickly.”

“These people are sick. They’re sick.” Trump asserted about the media. “And the press really in this country is dangerous.”