In June, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was shot when a gunman opened fire on Congressional baseball practice. He returned to work in September, then rounded out the year by having Donald Trump — forever a master of tact — joke publicly that him getting shot was a great way to lose a few pounds.
Trump’s comments came as GOP lawmakers were celebrating their catastrophic tax bill passing. “Steve Scalise is braver than all of us,” Trump said. “ Oh boy, I don’t know. He had a rougher year than most of us but … it’s a hell of a way to lose weight, Steve. It’s not a good way. We love you Steve. Great job, great job.” (Amazing within-the-same-breath backtrack.)
“This is a joke/remark that Scalise has made privately,” Washington Post reporter Paul Kane tweeted out. “I bet he’s made it to Trump, but without much of a filter, Trump blurts it out at this moment in awkward fashion.”
Once again, an excellent theory on weight loss from a president who has “never seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke” and believes exercise uses up the body’s “finite amount of energy.”
