Donald Trump Adds An Inch To His Height? Mundane Conspiracy Theory Festers (Opinion)

The discrepancy in Donald Trump’s height might sound like a mundane subject to some, but this is Donald Trump, and if there is a discrepancy around anything affiliated with the name Trump, then there is a headline to be had! This all started when someone made comparisons to Donald Trump’s height that is listed on his New York State driver’s license and the height of the president-elect reported in his latest doctor’s notes.

The section of the driver’s license that indicates Trump is a male and blue is the color of his eyes also has his height in feet and inches. This indicates the future 45th president of the nation stands at 6-feet, 2-inches tall. Most knew Trump was a good 6-feet anyway just by seeing him in pictures standing next to people over the last year while he campaigned.

More often than not, Trump was one of the tallest people in the many photos that were taken as he stood alongside other politicians and regular citizens alike. After a year of seeing pictures of Trump in many different scenarios, the 6-foot, 2-inches of height posted on his driver’s license didn’t surprise many people.

What has surprised a number of folks is that Trump’s doctor has stated that the man is 6-foot-3-inches tall, which adds an inch to the stats on his license, reports Politico. So what’s up with this, and why are people so concerned about Trump adding an inch to his height?

Most people shrink a bit as they age, and it’s nothing for a man who was 6-feet tall during his adult life to find out at his doctor’s office when he is 60 or 70 that he’s shrunk an inch and now stands only 5-foot, 11-inches. UAMS Health reports men can lose an inch in height between the ages of 30 and 70. This comes on gradually.

Women can lose up to 2-inches during that same age period. By the time they hit 80, both men and women could lose as much as 2-inches of their original adult height. While there are many reasons people shrink over time, the most common cause is that your cartilage between the vertebrae wears down, causing the body to get shorter in height. It is a natural part of aging. Whether the president-elect is an inch taller or shorter, his supporters seem to love him just the way he is, as indicated by the tweet below.

Donald J Trump was BORN ready. He couldn't be more prepared to get to WORK for the American people! ???

Retweet if you AGREE!!! pic.twitter.com/TsBo8QTIvR

— PrezTrumpFans?? (@PrezTrumpFans) November 8, 2016

In Donald Trump’s case, he has the opposite of the shrinking problem if he’s grown an inch, or has he? A human stops growing in height when puberty is complete, which happens at the age of 18-20 for a man and 17-18 for a woman, so the president-elect didn’t have a sudden growth spurt. What Trump did have though was a physical by his doctor, and this is where that extra inch may have been added to his stats that were originally quoted from his driver’s license. Then again, the driver’s license stats could hold the incorrect height, but that would make the conspiracy theory brewing no longer interesting!

After Politico had obtained a copy of Trump’s driver’s license through an open-records request, they confirmed his license had him at 6-foot, 2-inches in height. They’ve also quoted what a letter from Trump’s long-time gastroenterologist said when Trump himself gave it to Dr. Oz to read on live TV. The letter had Trump standing at 6-foot, 3 inches tall.

This was back when the health of the presidential candidates came under fire, and Trump visited the TV doc on a segment of his show with this letter in tow. So again, what is all the hoopla about? Well, it seems that one inch makes a big difference on where the president-elect appears on the scale of obesity vs. not obese.

Trump weighed 236 pounds at the time he appeared with Dr. Oz. When you take this weight and put it with the two different heights, one has Trump listed as obese, but the other one keeps him on this side of the obese line, and he’s just overweight. An article published by Slate offers up a theory that the extra inch avoids the president-elect crossing over that line, which prevents him from being called obese. According to the calculations offered up by Slate, at 6-foot, 3-inches, Trump “falls a biscuit shy of obese (BMI of 30).” He is considered overweight, but he hasn’t launched into the obese galaxy. At 6-foot, 2-inches with a weight of 236 pounds, the BMI is 30.3, which falls into the territory of obese.

Does that mean that Trump’s doctor made him an inch taller on paper so the stats would keep him from being tagged obese? That is not an easy accusation to even ponder about a doctor because doing that is considered unethical. Slate puts forth two questions, “Is it irresponsible to speculate? Is it irresponsible not to?” No one seems to be taking into consideration that the license stats could be wrong. The number “3” is just one key over from “2,” so before exploring a doctor’s ethical integrity, it might be a good idea to check the license out first?

Then there’s that habit some people tend to have. One could say that people do have the tendency to exaggerate about how big things are. Just ask any fisherman the size of the fish that got away. That fisherman’s hands will probably stretch as far as he can get his arms out. Trump has been known to complain when he sees someone quote that he is 6-foot, 2-inches tall, so as far as he is concerned, he has always been 6-foot, 3-inches in height.

According to Politico, earlier this year when a special edition of Time came out, they reported Trump’s height at 6-foot-3-inches. The publication also noted how “it irritates him that so many media outlets say he’s 6-foot-2.” So is there a conspiracy theory of the extra inch festering in the virtual hallways of social media? Or is this an honest mistake on his license and not someone trying to avoid the “O” word?

[Featured Image by Andrew Harkik/ AP Images]