Art Caplan on 'Politically Filtered' Messaging Around Trump’s Health

Medical ethicist Art Caplan, speaking on Friday's Boston Public Radio, said that while it isn’t uncommon for presidents to conceal critical information about their health and wellbeing, Donald Trump has an ethical responsibility to be fully transparent about his own physical standing, following Friday’s news of a COVID-19 diagnosis.

“Look, it’s an election time. We wanna know who we’re voting for,” Caplan said. "Is he failing, is he doing okay?"

"It’s also important to know who else they might’ve exposed, in terms of people like Joe Biden,” he added. “Are we gonna have another debate? And if so, how would that be arranged? A list of questions goes on and on and on.”

Caplan said the president’s reputation for misrepresenting himself has meant some voters are hesitant to trust his word, leading to confusion and occasional conspiracy-theorizing.

“We don’t have any independent mechanism to getting – if you will – trustworthy information, because it’s so politically filtered,” he explained.

Caplan is the Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Chair, and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine.