It’s not exactly a secret that Donald Trump has weird ideas about health and science. In fact, it was earlier this year when the president told The Wall Street Journal he routinely ignores the advice of physicians on daily aspirin use, in part because he’s “superstitious” and in part because he wants “nice, thin blood pouring through my heart.”

This is the same Republican who also famously recommended research into treating Covid-19 patients with disinfectant injections and shining “very powerful” lights inside their bodies.

So it doesn’t come a great surprise to learn the president also apparently believes diet soda possesses implausible health benefits. The New Republic noted:

During the latest episode of Donald Trump Jr.’s ‘Triggered’ podcast, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the daytime television host the president picked to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, revealed some of the president’s unorthodox beliefs about health.

‘Your dad argues that diet soda is good for him because it kills grass, if poured on grass, so therefore it must kill cancer cells inside the body,’ Oz said.

The former television personality went on to share an anecdote about seeing the president drinking an orange-flavored soft drink. Oz said the president “starts to, like, sheepishly grin. He goes, ‘You know this stuff’s good for me. It kills cancer cells.’ And then he tells me, ‘It’s fresh squeezed, so how bad can it be for you?’”

Trump’s son, the host of the podcast, laughed at all of this, which was understandable. It was funny to hear fresh evidence of the president’s odd beliefs.

Far less funny, however, is the person who harbors these bizarre ideas nevertheless claims broad authority on matters of public health, to the point that he’s urged Americans to follow his terrible advice. This is the same president, after all, who has offered public guidance on, among other things, how much Tylenol to take and what child vaccination schedules should look like.

Throughout his decadelong political career, Trump has repeatedly expressed his disdain for science and medical evidence on everything from the climate crisis to vaccines to Covid treatments, so it stands to reason that the president has a idiosyncratic hypothesis on the benefits of diet soda.

Oz’s anecdote is nevertheless a timely reminder to the public that Trump’s judgment on matters related to health is better left ignored.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

The post Mehmet Oz says Trump told him that diet soda might help kill cancer cells appeared first on MS NOW.

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