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So it doesn’t come a great surprise to learn the president also apparently believes diet soda possesses implausible health benefits. The New Republic noted:

During the latest episode of Donald Trump Jr.’s ‘Triggered’ podcast, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the daytime television host the president picked to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, revealed some of the president’s unorthodox beliefs about health.

‘Your dad argues that diet soda is good for him because it kills grass, if poured on grass, so therefore it must kill cancer cells inside the body,’ Oz said.

The former television personality went on to share an anecdote about seeing the president drinking an orange-flavored soft drink. Oz said the president “starts to, like, sheepishly grin. He goes, ‘You know this stuff’s good for me. It kills cancer cells.’ And then he tells me, ‘It’s fresh squeezed, so how bad can it be for you?’”....

Far less funny, however, is the person who harbors these bizarre ideas nevertheless claims broad authority on matters of public health, to the point that he’s urged Americans to follow his terrible advice. This is the same president, after all, who has offered public guidance on, among other things, how much Tylenol to take and what child vaccination schedules should look like.

Throughout his decadelong political career, Trump has repeatedly expressed his disdain for science and medical evidence on everything from the climate crisis to vaccines to Covid treatments, so it stands to reason that the president has a idiosyncratic hypothesis on the benefits of diet soda.