President Donald Trump appeared to question the effectiveness of his daily aspirin dose as he tried to rally Republicans during an event in Vandalia, Ohio, on Saturday.
“I take an aspirin a day. I don’t know if it works, but psychologically, I need it,” Trump said as he pointed to his head.
“I don’t know if it works or not, but I’ve been doing it for a long time. And here I am making speeches,” the president continued. “I take the big one… I take the 386. I don’t know what the hell it is. It’s a monster.”
Telling the crowd why he refuses to follow doctors’ orders and switch to a lower, more heart-healthy dose, Trump explained, “They said, ‘Sir, you don’t need that!’ I said, ‘Do me a favor, I’ve been doing OK for 35 years. Leave me alone.’”
The president, who earlier this year told the Wall Street Journal he was “a little superstitious” about his pills. However, he sounded resolute about his routine, telling rally-goers about a possible scenario, saying, “I’ll switch to the little tiny one ― you know it’s tiny, it doesn’t look right ― I’ll switch to that little tiny thing and something bad will happen.”
Trump then pointed his finger and smirked, adding, “I’ll say, ‘You son of a bitch, doctor!’”
After meandering a bit more, the president finally got to his point and congratulated pharmaceutical giant Bayer on its recently announced plan to open a $2.2 billion manufacturing facility near Columbus, Ohio.
Trump talked more about his mega-dose of aspirin during the Wall Street Journal’s January deep dive into his health, saying, “They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart. I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?”
Though the president did admit his meds might be behind the persistent bruises on his hands, he told the paper, “I have makeup that’s, you know, easy to put on, takes about 10 seconds.”