While President Donald Trump was chatting with the media ahead of his planned visit to Pittsburgh for an economic summit, C-SPAN cameras filmed what looks to be a bruise on the president’s right hand.
The White House has previously attributed bruising on the president’s hand to a variety of circumstances, including vigorous handshakes.
The scene was filmed when the president responded to a question about the continuing situation in Ukraine. At one point, Trump raised his right hand to reveal what looked to be a white, bruise-like mark. The bruise appeared minor, since the president avoided mentioning it and continued with his scheduled engagements as planned.
While the mark sparked speculation on social media, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and President Trump himself have previously attributed the bruises to vigorous handshakes, golf, and the president’s long workweek.
“President Trump is a man of the people and he meets more Americans and shakes their hands daily than any other President in history,” Leavitt told Fox News back in June after Trump’s hand appeared to be bruised following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“His commitment is unwavering and he proves that every single day,” she added.
In his “Person of the Year” interview with Time magazine last year, Trump said that bruising on his hand had become typical since he shakes hands with “thousands” of people every day. Bruising becomes more typical with age, which appears to support what Trump, 79, told the site.
According to the Mayo Clinic, elderly adults bruise more frequently because their skin thins and becomes less elastic, losing some of its protecting lipid layer.
This makes blood vessels more weak and susceptible to injury from mild hits. Additionally, capillaries deteriorate with age, and some drugs, such as blood thinners or corticosteroids, can exacerbate bruising.
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This comes as a new national poll shows that most Democrats are dissatisfied with how their party’s lawmakers are performing in Congress.
According to a Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday, 53% of Democratic respondents disapproved of congressional Democrats’ job performance, while only 41% expressed approval.
Among all voters surveyed between June 5–8, just 21% approved of how Democrats in Congress are handling their roles, with 70% voicing disapproval.
The 21% approval rating matches the figure from Quinnipiac’s February national poll, tying “an all-time low since Quinnipiac University first asked this question of registered voters in March 2009.”
In contrast, the survey shows that 79% of Republican voters approve of how congressional Republicans are performing, while 13% disapprove, Fox News reported, citing the survey’s results.
Among all voters, 32% approved of the job performance of congressional Republicans, while just over 60% expressed disapproval.
Overall approval for Republicans in Congress has declined by eight points since Quinnipiac’s February poll, with disapproval rising by nine points over the same period.
The Democratic Party has been in a state of political disarray since the November elections, when Republicans regained control of the White House and the Senate while holding on to their narrow majority in the House. Adding to the setback, Republicans made inroads with key Democratic constituencies, including black, Hispanic, and younger voters.
Since President Donald Trump’s return to office earlier this year, an increasingly energized Democratic base has been pressuring party leaders to take a more forceful stance against the president’s sweeping and controversial agenda during the early months of his second term. Frustration is not only aimed at Republicans, but also at fellow Democrats who are seen as too passive in their opposition.
This growing dissatisfaction has contributed to a sharp decline in the Democratic Party’s favorability ratings, which have reached historic lows in multiple polls over the past several months.