Bed of Lies - Trump's Flirt With the Miracle-Healing Conspiracy

Donald Trump once again maneuvered himself into a corner with a bizarre video. In the night from Saturday to Sunday, he posted a clip on his platform Truth Social generated by artificial intelligence in which he promoted a supposed miracle cure: so-called "medbeds." About twelve hours later, the post disappeared without comment - but the irritation remains. The video was staged as a mock newscast in the style of Fox News. Appearing was Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, who declared with a serious expression that Donald Trump had "opened the nation's first medbed hospitals." Every American, so the message went, would henceforth receive a "medbed card." What sounded like a mixture of science fiction and commercial spot was aimed at a product that does not exist.

"Medbeds" have belonged for years to the arsenal of far-right conspiracy myths. In dedicated forums they are described as miracle devices that can heal illnesses, rejuvenate bodies and even overcome death. No credible source, no research institute and no medical facility has ever provided proof of their existence. Nevertheless, the supposed miracle machines haunt the echo chambers of the QAnon movement, where they are celebrated as imminent salvation. That the president himself shared such a video gives the nonsense a dangerous dimension. Millions of people saw the post before it was deleted. Some will have taken it at face value, others recognize in it yet another sign of Trump's willingness to fish at the edges of reality as long as it brings him attention. At a time when disinformation can influence not only opinions but also elections, the staging feels like playing with fire.

Remarkable is not only the content but also the form: the fake Fox News optics suggested seriousness, Lara Trump's appearance was meant to convey closeness and familial credibility. Precisely therein lies the toxicity of such clips - they employ the aesthetics of familiar news formats to lend falsehood the appearance of truth. Why Trump deleted the video after twelve hours remains unclear. Whether it was internal pressure from the White House, fear of ridicule in established media or simply an attempt to limit the damage - the image of a president who gives a stage to a pseudo-scientific scam is already out in the world. It joins a long list of episodes in which Trump amplified conspiracy-driven narratives: from vaccine myths to "stolen elections" to obscure promises of salvation.

What remains is the realization that a 79-year-old incumbent, who governs the most powerful country in the world, apparently has no hesitation in searching at the darkest edges of the net for ammunition. That he thereby becomes the mouthpiece for fantasies that have nothing to do with science but all the more with politics is a slap in the face to those who rely on facts, reason and responsibility. The episode around the "medbeds" shows exemplarily how thin the line has become between political communication and digital fraud - and how carelessly Trump is willing to cross it.