"McNugget burns": 'Donald Trump has syphilis' trend erupts on Twitter as hand lesions picture sparks wild theories

Former U.S. President Donald Trump recently made headlines after he was seen with lesions on his hands. The same was observed when he waved while leaving the Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City.

Trigger warning: This article mentions s*xually transmitted disease. Readers' discretion is advised.

The now-viral pictures reveal certain red sore-like spots on Donald Trump’s right hand, spread across his thumb, forefinger, and palm, and have gained enough traction on social media platforms, such as X.

Netizens speculate all kinds of things, from syphilis (STD), burns, herpes, shingles, and blisters, among others, once again stirring controversy about Donald Trump’s health condition.

In this regard, an X user commented under @joncoopertweets’ post on the same. The netizen suggests that the marks on Donald Trump’s hand are burn marks from eating McNuggets (chicken nuggets from McDonald’s).

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“Are any of you a dermatologist?”: Donald Trump’s hand lesions trigger hilarious reactions online

On Wednesday, Donald Trump waved at his fans while leaving the Trump Tower and on his way to the New York Federal Court to appear for the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial, as per Meidas Touch. However, he was captured with red lesions on his hands, triggering wild theories online.

While some people believe those are just burn marks from food, others believe they are frostbites from his recent Iowa campaign trip.

Speculations also have it that Donald Trump’s hand lesions can be red ink from top secret documents, or him trying his hand at electronics such as a curling iron, thus hurting himself.

The words herpes, shingles, and blisters were also thrown around, while many made fun of Trump’s hand size. However, it was syphilis that gained maximum momentum, with most people speculating the former President had been suffering from a s*xually transmitted disease. Here are some of the wild reactions from X where #syphilis is the most trending hashtag.

According to Times Now News, the syphilis theory is not new. Earlier in February 2017, an article titled “A Medical Theory for Donald Trump’s Behavior” was published by the New Republic.

The author Dr. Steven Beutler, an expert in infectious diseases for over 30 years, suggested that Trump might be suffering from “neurosyphilis,” as evident from his symptoms including “psychiatric issues and personality changes.”

He also explained how neurosyphilis is detected one to three decades after initial infection (syphilis) and exhibits symptoms such as “neurologic and neuropsychiatric disease.”

Notably, he admitted that he could not “of course, establish this diagnosis from a distance,” he suggested that there was a possibility could have been exposed to syphilis in the 1980s, which later resulted in neurosyphilis.

Dr. Beutler even drew references to Trump’s “own accounts from his past s*xual life,” and talked about a certain 1997 interview where the business magnate and politician stated that he was “lucky in terms of that whole world,” hinting that he had relations with people from across the globe.

Meanwhile, Democratic political consultant James Carville told Politicon that Trump might be suffering from secondary syphilis on Wednesday. It is the second stage of syphilis when left untreated and can lead to rashes across “palms and soles of your feet,” as per Cleveland Clinic.

So far, there is no concrete evidence that the 77-year-old Trump has ever suffered from syphilis in his lifetime.