Trump tells crowd about his weight gain and complains he ‘doesn’t have time’ to lose it

Endorsement of Dr Oz rankled conservatives over the weekend

Former President Donald Trump quipped that he doesn’t “have time to lose weight” as he told a crowd about advice given to him by Dr Mehmet Oz, the celebrity physician whose candidacy in the Pennsylvania Senate race Mr Trump endorsed on Saturday.

At an event this week, Mr Trump spoke to an indoor venue and noted that Dr Oz had urged him to lose weight in order to enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

‘Can you believe I weigh 208?’ Trump said. ‘Now maybe a little more’.

“Dr Oz has said you should lose weight. I told him, ‘I don’t have time to lose weight.’’

It wasn’t clear exactly where Mr Trump was speaking, but the event apparently took place some time after Mr Trump’s rally in North Carolina on Saturday at which he made his endorsement official.

The clip is the latest example of Mr Trump mentioning his past interview with Dr Oz on the latter’s show and hinting that the celebrity TV doctor’s praise of his personal health choices carried weight when it came time to make his endorsement.

“He even said that I was in extraordinary health, which made me like him even more (although he also said I should lose a couple of pounds!),” read Mr Trump’s official statement endorsing the GOP candidate on Saturday.

Dr Oz faces a tough primary against other Republicans in the state’s Senate race in the weeks ahead, and a Democratic challenger in November should he prevail.

Republicans typically aligned with Mr Trump responded to the ex-president’s endorsement over the weekend by highlighting a number of the TV doctor’s past statements on issues including acceptance of transgender children and abortion in an attempt to dissuade voters from abandoning Mr McCormick.