Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, weighed in amid questions about Trump’s health during an interview Friday morning on the cable news network.
“He still sounds sick,” Gupta said of Trump after listening to a recording of the president’s phone interview with Sean Hannity during his Fox News show Thursday. “He sounds congested still.”
Trump, who tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalized last week, can be heard audibly clearing his throat throughout the recording as he speaks about absentee ballots and debating Hillary Clinton.
The neurosurgeon expressed concern over the president’s treatment plan, especially considering Trump is still taking doctor-prescribed steroids, saying they could be masking his symptoms.
“When you come off the steroids that inflammation may come back,” Gupta said while discussing the issue.
The doctor worried Trump could be doing too much too soon. “They’ve got to take care of him; he’s got to take care of himself … and you don’t need to be a doctor to be able to tell that.”
Gupta went on to say his views have nothing to do with political intrigue.
“This is just decent humanity at this point,” he said. “He sounds sick, and he’s 74 years old and this is a serious disease.”
Trump is set to conduct his first on-camera interview since his COVID-19 diagnosis with Fox News medical contributor Marc Siegel on Friday. Siegel will interview Trump remotely from New York, while the president will conduct the interview from inside the White House.