NYT, LAT, WaPo have assigned top reporters 'to update' Trump’s obituary

Ben Smith of The New York Times on Monday penned a story headlined, "How to Cover a Sick Old Man."

That "sick old man" is the president of the United States, Donald Trump.

Smith wrote that top reporters for top liberal newspapers are busy updating Trump's obituary.

"Among the people scrambling this weekend at American newspapers," he wrote, "are obituary writers, as major outlets assigned top reporters to update Mr. Trump's obituary — Peter Baker at The New York Times, Marc Fisher at The Washington Post and Mark Z. Barabak at The Los Angeles Times, people at each paper told me. But the easiest solution to this media quandary is for citizens to elect leaders of working age. A friend recently told me sadly how nice it had been to see a national politician, Kamala Harris, jog down a few stairs."

Newspaper often have pre-written obituaries for political luminaries and Hollywood celebrities. Many papers had a fully written piece ready to go when Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died last month at age 89.

Trump is, perhaps, no different. He is 74 and, while full of apparent vim and vigor, he's also technically obese and abhors exercise, preferring to play golf while riding in a golf cart.

Smith noted that many of the top politicians in Washington are elderly. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 80, and the Senate president pro tempore, Charles Grassley, is 87. Two of Pelosi's top  deputies, are old, too: James Clyburn is 80, and Steny Hoyer is 81. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is 77. Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, is 85. Richard Shelby, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, is 86. And, of course, Joe Biden is 77.

For "the next few years, at least, our leaders' age and health will remain big news," the Times reporter said. "We need a reporting culture that's ready to handle the public decline of this generation of leaders, as long as they insist on declining in public. Searching questions about everything from sleep to cognition shouldn’t be off limits."

"It will help if reporters are medically knowledgeable, and ask the right questions, e.g. blood pressure, heart rhythm, sleep disorders," Dr. Mark Fisher, a professor of neurology and political science at the University of California, Irvine, told Smith on Sunday. "The more specific and precise questions reporters ask, the better. A robust fund of knowledge by the reporter is a great advantage."

But all that updating now appears premature. Although President Trump did have a couple of difficult days — he took supplemental oxygen on Friday —  the president announced Monday that he will be returning to the White House at 6:30 p.m.