Girther (someone suspicious about another’s weight)
The term “girther” (girth + -er) is similar to the related terms “birther (a person skeptical about another person’s birth information) and “truther” (a person skeptical of the official version of the tragic events of September 11, 2001). The “girther” term was popularized in January 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump had a physical examination and his political opponents believed that he had a greater girth than was officially reported.
“Girther” was used on the MSNBC television news show All In with Chris Hayes on January 16, 2018. “Has anyone coined ‘girther’ for those who belive the president weighs more than his doctor reports?” was posted on Twitter by Chris Hayes on January 16, 2018.
“Girthers” was first posted on Twitter on July 22, 2009, when the debate was whether U. S. Surgeon General nominee Regina Benjamin was too fat for the position.
Twitter
Katy
@NINSTEELER
RT @pourmecoffee Girthers. http://bit.ly/15jSp2 II OMG OMG OMG OMG. Too funny #tcot #tlot
11:15 AM - 22 Jul 2009
Twitter
Frank Cerabino
@FranklyFlorida
FOX attacks Obama’s surgeon general for being fat. This will create a new strain of wingnuts that @pourmecoffee has named “Girthers.”
11:23 AM - 22 Jul 2009
Twitter
Ivan Orr
@iorr03
I had no idea that Lou Dobbs is a girther.
3:57 PM - 3 Aug 2009
Twitter
JJ
@jjhippie
The next big thing to follow the birther movement—the length&girther movement! http://tinyurl.com/mqwl5y #p2 #teabaggers
12:30 PM - 25 Aug 2009
Twitter
E. Parksalot
@thublihnk
I’m starting a new conspiracy theory group, we’re called the ‘Girthers’. Our thesis: Rush Limbaugh is fat as shit.
12:17 PM - 4 Aug 2010
Twitter
Afterseven
@Afterseven
GIRTHERS: People who believe Michelle Obama should not be lecturing anybody about body fat. #tcot #girthers #tlot #twisters #p2 #lolLibtards
4:49 AM - 15 Sep 2010
Twitter
One-Legged Sandpiper
@OneLegSandpiper
People that don’t believe Chris Christie is fat are Girthers.
8:09 PM - 12 Dec 2010
Twitter
Deplorable Lorenzo
@mulderlr
”@NicoHines: People who say Chris Christie is too fat to be president: girthers” rotfl
7:26 PM - 3 Oct 2011
Instapundit.com
MAY 27, 2012
FROM “BIRTHERS” TO “GIRTHERS:” Meet The Weiner Truthers: One year later, a dogged handful still believe that Anthony Weiner was framed.
Twitter
Aidan Scanlan
@aidanscanlan
Replying to @THEKarlaPacheco
@THEKarlaPacheco Someone on the internet far more brilliant than me, is coined this as the “Girther Movement”
10:02 AM - 5 Mar 2016
Twitter
𝕄𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝔾𝕚𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕠
@mjgiarlo
Big ups to the person who coined the term “girther movement” in re lacking proof of Trump’s, uh, prowess. Well played.
11:50 AM - 7 Mar 2016
Twitter
Chris Hayes
@chrislhayes
Has anyone coined “girther” for those who belive the president weighs more than his doctor reports?
3:33 PM - 16 Jan 2018
BBC News
Trump’s medical sparks online ‘girther’ movement
By George Pierpoint
BBC UGC and Social News
17 January 2018
According to the official medical report, released by the White House on 16 January, President Trump stands at 75 inches (6ft 3in; 1.9m) and weighs 239lb (17st 1lb; 108kg).
But the girther movement, propelled mainly by critics of the president, posits that Mr Trump is shorter and heavier than the report suggests.
This particular presidential physical has received increased interest after questions were raised over Mr Trump’s mental health and supposed unhealthy diet.
New York (magazine)
‘Girthers’ on Twitter Are Just Asking Questions About Trump’s Size
By Madison Malone Kircher @4evrmalone
January 17, 2018 9:32 am
The White House doctor deemed Donald Trump in “excellent” health this week. The president passed a cognitive test, and the White House announced that Trump is 75 inches tall — six feet, three inches — and weighs 239 pounds. That weight is, if you are the sort of person who is inclined to believe in BMI as an accurate indicator of health, just barely shy of “obese.”
On Twitter, people were quick to question Trump’s physical results. “People” included MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, who offered up the term “girther” as a description of anybody skeptical of the president’s purported measurements, which quickly became a hashtag used by anybody sharing pictures of Trump next to somebody else who reportedly weighs 239 pounds.
YouTube
“Girther Movement” Explained
The Young Turks
Published on Jan 17, 2018
Some people are questioning if Trump is being honest about his weight. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian, the hosts of The Young Turks, explain “Girtherism.” Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
The New Yorker
The Rise of the Anti-Trump “Girthers”
By Ian CrouchJanuary 18, 2018
Donald Trump, according to the results of his recent physical, which was conducted by Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the White House physician, is six feet three inches tall and weighs two hundred and thirty-nine pounds. That puts him, based on body-mass index, just a tenth of a point shy of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers “obese,” making him, instead, “overweight.” The distinction is, in itself, a functionally meaningless one; but it seems like the kind of thing that Trump, based on his well-known collection of vanities, might consider quite meaningful. As such, the figures have been treated by many as fishy—perhaps his height had been boosted an inch or two by his antigravity coiffure, or his weight shaved off by a pound or twenty.
Politico
Why ‘Girthers’ Are the Biggest Losers
Liberals think Trump lies about his weight because the powerless always love conspiracy theories.
By JOSEPH E. USCINSKI January 18, 2018
Why have Democrats become so prone to conspiracy theorizing about Donald Trump? Even though Trump is said to be in fine health by his doctor, many of the president’s detractors believe the doctor is lying and that there is a conspiracy afoot to conceal the president’s true deteriorating condition. To cite just one example: After David Axelrod called Ronny Jackson, the White House doctor, a “very good guy and straight shooter,” Keith Olbermann asserted that Trump must have refused a presidential weigh-in and instead ordered Jackson to “just guess my weight.” Can we not accept even the findings of the presidential doctor?