Donald Trump said his comments about doubting his chances of getting into heaven were sarcastic—yet in the same breath admitted he really wasn’t sure about his fate.
During an interview Monday on Fox News, Trump, 79, was asked about how he had put himself “at the bottom of the totem pole” in August. Last month, he said while aboard Air Force One: “I’m being a little cute... I don’t think there’s anything [that’s] going to get me in heaven. Okay? I think I’m not maybe heaven-bound.”
Trump told Laura Ingraham, 62, that those types of comments were taken “totally literally.”
“When I made that statement, I was being funny— sarcastic,” he said Monday. “You know, it’s bad for a politician to be sarcastic. I said, ‘I’m never going to make it to heaven... I don’t think can I make it. I don’t think I qualify.’”
“I was kidding. I was having fun,” he continued, but then added: “I don’t know if I will or not. I don’t know.”
Trump called out The New York Times specifically for reporting on the near-octogenarian’s repeated musings about heaven.
“I make this statement and the Times has a front page: ‘Donald Trump is now questioning his life...’ he said, before once again reenacting his comments. “I was having fun, but they made it like serious. The thing I thought I learned —but I forgot about it I guess when I made this—you can’t be sarcastic as a politician, or have fun."
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House surrounding Trump’s comments Monday.
Since becoming the oldest person to be sworn in as president, Trump’s hand bruising, swollen ankles, increase in gaffes and apparent nodding off have led to questions about his health.
In July, the White House announced that the president had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, which affects the ability of blood to return to the heart. Trump’s bruising, meanwhile, is from frequent handshaking and taking aspirin, the White House says.
But one thing the White House hasn’t explained is the reason for Trump’s MRI at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last month, leading to speculation by cardiologists.
That October visit resulted in Trump’s physician declaring him to be in “exceptional health.” His cardiac age was “14 years younger than his chronological age,” according to a memo from Sean Barbabella.
