WASHINGTON: Does Donald Trump truly weigh 215 pounds, as stated by authorities after his arrest on racketeering and conspiracy charges in Georgia? Many Americans are not buying it.

Trump, who posed for a mug shot during the booking process in Atlanta on Thursday, was reportedly allowed to provide his own statistics to the Fulton County Jail.

It listed the height of inmate number “PO1135809” as six foot three inches, his weight as 215 pounds (97 kilograms) and his hair colour as either “Blond or Strawberry.” The response was sceptical.

“If Donald Trump is 215 lbs, like he said on his booking sheet, I dated Halle Berry,” liberal commentator and former South Carolina lawmaker Bakari Sellers quipped on CNN.

Trump reportedly told police in New York when he was arrested there in April that he was 6’2“ and weighed 240 lbs — meaning the 77-year-old apparently lost 25 lbs, and grew one inch, in five months.

MSNBC — following the lead of many, many social media users — broadcast a striking gallery of full-length portraits of Trump and sports legends in their prime with similar measurements.

It showed the former president with a distinct paunch compared to American football players Tom Brady (6’4“, 225 lbs) and Lamar Jackson (6’2“, 215 lbs), or boxer Mohamed Ali (6’3“, 214 lbs).

Trump, an avid golfer, has often used hyperbole to describe his physical well-being, mental acuity, and genes — but contradictory and incomplete information over the years has ensured his actual health status remains cloudy.

In 2015, his campaign released a letter claiming Trump’s lab results were “astonishingly excellent” and that he would be the “healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” His physician later said Trump dictated the letter.

White House doctors, in relatively vague annual reports, always certified he was in good shape — though technically obese, with the publicly disclosed check-up in 2020 claiming he was 6’3“ and weighed 244 lbs.

Trump’s rival, President Joe Biden, stands at 6 feet tall and weighs 178 lbs, according to his February 2023 medical checkup.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2023