Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed not to have knowledge of the red marks that were photographed on his hand as he left Trump Tower last month, and which sparked multiple theories on social media and late-night TV.
Fox News’ Mark Meredith asked Trump: “How’s your hand? It looks like it’s better now.”
“My hand?” replied Trump.
“Yeah, what happened the other day?” asked Meredith, adding: “You didn’t see the photos? Coming out of Trump Tower?”
Trump and Meredith went back and forth.
The four-times-indicted Trump, who is an avid consumer of news about himself (even when it’s mocking or negative), claimed not to know what the journalist was talking about.
Trump then held up both hands, said “nothing” was wrong and suggested: “Maybe it’s AI.”
The marks, which were caught on camera by a Getty Images photographer and others, had prompted much speculation online.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel noted how some people thought it was “a common symptom of syphilis” but argued it was most likely ketchup after Trump “probably got his hands in a container of curly fries or something.”
The Republican 2024 front-runner would “be all over it” if a rival had been pictured in a similar situation,” Kimmel said. “He’d talk about it for years. He’d be posting in all-caps about ‘Meatball Ron DeSyphilis’ and ‘Nikki Herpes.’ But they haven’t brought it up.”
The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, meanwhile, mocked Trump’s revolving door of attorneys by joking it was from him “finger-painting the face of his new lawyer, Wilson the volleyball.”