The same national media that couldn't see past their personal biases to gauge the strength of presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016 don't understand how much empathy they lend to the now-president with their obsession about his health.
Rats, the economy is good, their thinking has to be. Darn, he signed a tax reform bill. Phooey, the Russia investigation is going nowhere.
But Trump's health? Ha, we've got him. As soon as he submits to a thorough health screening like every president does annually (though voluntarily), we'll have him. Doctors can't possibly judge him as healthy.
After all, he loves McDonald's food, The Washington Post having "exposed" that his go-to order is two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, two Big Macs and a chocolate shake.
Indeed, a former aide insisted he'd never seen Trump eat fruit or nuts. His favorite Air Force One snacks, reportedly are Lay's potato chips and Keebler Vienna Fingers cookies.
It is whispered he drinks up to 12 Diet Cokes a day. He loves big steaks prepared so well done they would "rock the plate," according to The New York Times.
And don't forget Time's breaking news story on Trump's ice cream insistence. The magazine reported he gets two scoops of ice cream with his chocolate pie while others around the table get one.
Of course, the only kind of exercise he gets is playing golf. And even there, he rides a cart.
Oh, the horrors. What kind of monster do we have in the Oval Office?
So it was with no lack of interest that the media salivated over a more detailed assessment from doctors after Trump's physical examination last week, an examination that initially revealed only that the president was in excellent health.
For almost an hour last week they grilled Navy Rear Admiral Dr. Ronny Jackson.
What about his mental fitness? What about him once supposedly slurring his words? What about the possibility of him being removed from office through the 25th Amendment because he is unable to "discharge his duties"? What if doctors are missing signs they might have overlooked with former President Ronald Reagan, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease five years after he left office?
Jackson remained calm, giving them information as detailed as the fact the non-drinking, non-smoking, non-coffee-drinking Trump, 71, has "excellent" cardiac health, has "incredibly good genes" and scored 30 out of 30 on a cognitive test often given patients at Walter Reed Medical Center.
"I think that, you know, there's no indication that he has any kind of cognitive issues," he said.
Still, they pressed, wanting the doctor to come up with something to explain why he tweeted rude remarks, to explain why he (in their minds) is a racist, to explain why he won't kowtow to them like most politicians.
"You know," Jackson finally said, "I would think that, you know, the people shouldn't be making the assessments about the president unless they've had the opportunity to get to know him and examine him and, you know, in my opinion, [innuendo about the president's health is] just tabloid psychiatry, and I just don't - you know, I'm not going to address it or fall into responding to those questions or accusations."
Now, recall, if you will, the intense questioning former President Obama's doctor took over Obama's smoking, over his admitted drug use (when his was younger) and over his desire to escape first lady Michelle Obama's insistence on healthy eating by grabbing hamburgers.
Right, there wasn't any.
Or the concern about Bill Clinton's diet in the White House, where he reportedly arrived after gaining 30 pounds on the 1992 campaign trail following a diet of Big Macs, barbecue and mayonnaise salads.
Right, there wasn't any, though the former president later was diagnosed with heart disease and underwent quadruple-bypass surgery in 2004 and became largely a vegan.
A case easily could be made, as it could in so many other aspects, about how the media treats the health of Republican presidents versus the health of Democratic presidents.
Recall, after all, the cover-ups of Franklin D. Roosevelt's polio, John F. Kennedy's Addison's disease and Lyndon B. Johnson's depression. But Republicans? Eisenhower's heart attack and ileitis were big news, George H.W. Bush's stomach trouble at an international dinner made headlines and the fit, active George W. Bush was whispered by pundits who didn't like his policies that he must have early onset dementia.
As for Trump, it was just the latest attempt to find something - anything - that will destroy his presidency.
With that knowledge, reporters who heard Jackson's conclusion about the president's potential tenure in office must have felt a giant dagger over their latest attempt.
"I feel very confident," he said, "that [Trump] has a very strong and a very probable possibility of making it completely through his presidency with no medical issues."
Elsewhere, the president's supporters - especially those who enjoy an occasional Big Mac and Diet Coke and play a little golf - just laughed.