MaddowBlog-Why it was so deeply weird to see Trump amplify 'medbed' pseudoscience

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Someone used AI to create a fake Fox News segment that showed the president touting magical beds to the public. So why did he promote it?

Someone used AI to create a fake Fox News segment featuring Trump touting magical “MedBed” technology. He then used to his platform to amplify the nonsensical pseudoscience.

Maybe now’s a good time to renew the whole “cognitive decline” conversation? www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-09-29T18:39:10.323Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-medbed-pseudoscience-rcna234487

When it comes to science and medicine, Donald Trump’s track record is an embarrassment. We are, after all, talking about a president who endorsed injections of disinfectant as a possible Covid treatment five years ago.......

One day later, he helped introduce the public to the “MedBed” idea. Politico reported:

Yesterday on Truth Social, the president of the United States shared a video purporting to be a segment on Fox News (it wasn’t) in which an A.I.-generated, deep-faked version of himself sat in the White House and promised that ‘every American will soon receive their own MedBed card’ that will grant them access to new ‘MedBed hospitals.’

In all candor, I’ll confess that I’d never heard anything about this before the weekend, but evidently, there are fringe conspiracy theorists who believe there are magical, futuristic beds that can cure every disease, regrow missing limbs and even reverse the human aging process.

This is, of course, quite bonkers, though as the Politico report went on to note, “An offshoot of MedBed believers are QAnon devotees who insist the non-existent technology is being used to secretly keep John F. Kennedy Jr. alive.”.....

Incidents like these are not uncommon. Indeed, Democrats tried to make them a campaign issue ahead of Election Day 2024. In the race’s closing weeks, for example, Trump told a 12-minute story about Arnold Palmer’s genitalia, which came just days after the Republican decided to stop taking questions at a town hall event and instead swayed to music for 39 minutes.

A year later, Trump has promoted a “medbed” video for reasons that have not yet been explained.

As USA Today’s Rex Huppke summarized, after Trump twice suggested he was headed to Russia when he was actually going to Alaska, “That’s the sort of thing you hear before having to make a difficult decision about grandpa’s future.” Huppke similarly recently described the president as being “in obvious mental decline.”

[tanyev]

1. I think it's as simple as, "Look! This is about MEEEEE!"

“You’ll love it! It’s about MEEEEE!”

But it’s not true…. “Who cares? It’s about MEEEEE!”

It’s not even real…. “But it’s about MEEEEE!”

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. trump's craziest tweet ever

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Rachel opened with the MedBed story

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Here's Seth Meyers' hilarious take on the AI 'Med Bed' video

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. MaddowBlog-White House tries to defend Trump amplifying bizarre 'medbed' pseudoscience

Last edited Sat Oct 4, 2025, 09:41 AM - Edit history (1)

Karoline Leavitt had several days to come up with a reason why the president promoted a video about magic beds. She apparently couldn’t think of much.

White House officials had several days to come up with a reason why Trump promoted a bonkers "medbed" video.

Evidently, they couldn't think of much. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-10-02T21:29:24.933Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/white-house-tries-defend-trump-amplifying-bizarre-medbed-pseudoscience-rcna235212

To be sure, Trump has a habit of pushing weird stuff, but even by contemporary Republican standards, this was one of those moments when it seemed sensible to wonder if the sitting American president was OK. Indeed, if Joe Biden had done the same thing during his term, the political world’s conversation about the 25th Amendment would likely have been quite robust.

With this in mind, at a briefing on Wednesday, a reporter asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt what, exactly, Trump was trying to communicate to the public.

Reporter: The president posted an AI deepfake of himself talking about medbeds. What was he trying to communicate?

Leavitt: He is transparent. He likes to share memes and videos. I think it is refreshing to have a president who is so open and honest.

— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) 2025-10-01T19:17:41.725Z

.....So, a few things.

First, no one has said Trump lacked the “right” to promote preposterous pseudoscience via social media. Rather, the question was why he did it and what his decision tells us about his state of mind.

Second, pushing bonkers videos via social media does not make an official “incredibly transparent.” If the White House wants to talk about Trump’s affinity for transparency, it can get back to us after the public gets access to his tax returns, the Epstein files and the video of border czar Tom Homan allegedly accepting a bag full of cash from undercover FBI agents.

Third, Leavitt’s suggestion that Trump promoting a “medbed” video is a reflection of his honesty is almost as weird as the fake Fox News segment itself.....

But Leavitt had several days to come up with something to say about this, and the fact that this was the line she settled on speaks volumes about just how bananas Trump’s move was.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. 'The president is unhinged': Trump's online behavior grows increasingly odd

As the behavior of America's president becomes increasingly unhinged, the world is questioning whether Trump is insane: From reposting a false AI video of himself to confusing comments during press conferences, Trump seems to be losing touch with reality. The US president’s recent behavior is strange to many, from reposting a false AI video of himself to confusing comments during press conferences

‘The president is unhinged’: Trump’s online behavior grows increasingly odd

— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 2025-10-05T15:21:11.917Z

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/05/trump-behavior-online-posts

To many observers, both in the US and abroad, Donald Trump has been behaving strangely recently. Especially online.

As a government shutdown loomed in the US last week, the president posted an AI video which depicted Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black House minority leader, wearing a sombrero and exaggerated moustache, with mariachi music playing in the background.

Hispanic groups criticized Trump’s posts as “racist”, “dangerous” and “reprehensible”, but Trump doubled down, posting a new video which showed himself wearing a sombrero and playing the guitar behind a rendering of Jeffries.

It wasn’t the only situation where Trump’s behavior has seemed unusual. Last weekend Trump reposted to Truth Social an AI-generated fake video which promoted “med bed hospitals”. Trump has reposted AI content before, but the difference was that this video showed an AI version of himself speaking.

“Every American will soon receive their own med bed card,” the AI rendering of Trump, apparently seated in the Oval Office, said. “With it, you’ll have guaranteed access to our new hospitals led by the top doctors in the nation, equipped with the most advanced technology in the world.”

Setting aside the fact that the idea of “med beds” is a rightwing conspiracy theory – one version of the theory posits that the government and/or a group of wealthy Americans have access to medical bed-like devices that can cure almost every illness, but are withholding the technology – Trump’s post prompted a number of questions.

[berniesandersmittens]

7. So THAT'S how his ear was grown back