http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/16/arts/television/on-dr-oz-trump-offers-placebo-transparency.html 2016-09-15 22:58:59 On ‘Dr. Oz,’ Trump Offers Placebo Transparency The presidential candidate stage-managed the release of information about his health — a cursory summary of test results — like a reality-TV reveal. === On Thursday’s Mr. Trump’s much-hyped appearance came in the midst of a news week focused on the candidates’ health. And Mr. Trump, the former host of “The Apprentice,” stage-managed it like a reality-TV reveal. After days of will-he-or-won’t-he, as to whether Mr. Trump would provide the findings of a recent physical examination, daytime’s favorite doctor walked the candidate through a self-assessment, which Mr. Trump, as is his wont when self-assessing, answered favorably. If you feel so confident, Dr. Oz finally asked, “Why not share your medical records?” Mr. Trump responded like a knee to the tap of a mallet, producing two sheets of paper from his jacket as if they were the results of a dramatic elimination episode. The moment triggered Mr. Trump’s showman’s instinct to engage the crowd. “I have it right here,” he said. “Should I do it?” Spoiler alert: He did. The move seemed to take Dr. Oz by surprise. He read over the letter quickly and approvingly, at one point interjecting, “My goodness!” (He did later point out that Mr. Trump is overweight.) He commended Mr. Trump for participating. “In this modern era,” Dr. Oz said, “people expect to know enough about the people they’re voting for.” What Mr. Trump provided, it turned out, was a “I view this as, in a way, going to see my doctor,” Mr. Trump said. He left the appointment with much more than a lollipop. The man whom Oprah Winfrey called “America’s doctor” had become, wittingly or not, Mr. Trump’s spin doctor. The pairing made perfect showbiz sense. Dr. Oz has come to represent popular medical authority in the same way that Mr. Trump, through such platforms as “The Apprentice,” symbolizes business acumen. Dr. Oz may have come under fire for pushing supplements and The “Dr. Oz” visit was announced last week. But when Hillary Clinton left the campaign trail with pneumonia after abruptly departing Sunday’s Sept. 11 memorial ceremony, the appearance became doubly strategic. First, because the Clinton campaign delayed explaining her illness, it was a chance to portray Mr. Trump as the more forthcoming, even though Mrs. Clinton Second, it underlined the none-too-subtle campaign theme that Mr. Trump has the most, you know, “stamina.” At a rally Wednesday, he questioned whether Mrs. Clinton (who is on her second national campaign) could make it through the speech he was giving. In case that was too nuanced, Mr. Trump’s medical letter included a reading of his testosterone level. The message — as Mr. Trump said in a March debate regarding The visit’s beneficial side effects included outreach to the largely female daytime audience, in front of a friendly questioner. Mr. Trump’s daughter Ivanka joined him to plug his child care policy, without follow-up questions on, say, the criticism that the plan gives more help to upper-income families. Mr. Trump defended his past sexist banter on the Howard Stern radio show — “I was having fun” — and managed to get in a couple of digs at his opponent. When Dr. Oz asked him not to discuss Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Trump agreed, then added, “We want her to get well.” (“I don’t think you can represent the country properly if you’re not a healthy person,” he said later.) But by the time the episode aired, the important part of the show, for Mr. Trump’s purposes, was already over. Since he taped the appearance Wednesday, Mr. Trump gained a day’s worth of news clips showing him handing over two pages of — something — to the celebrity doctor and credulous headlines reporting his disclosure as the release of “medical records.” Invested in the story, but without access to the information, media outlets grasped for snippets. “Audience Member: Dr. Oz Impressed With Trump’s Health,” read a chyron on CNN. It was the theater of transparency masquerading as actual transparency — a placebo. Now that Mr. Trump’s doctor’s letter has been released publicly, medical experts and journalists can assess what and how much it tells us — most likely, to less attention. But the episode showed that the publicity-hound instincts of America’s producer-in-chief are quite healthy. In this news cycle’s journey to Oz, Mr. Trump was the man behind the curtain.