Joe Biden's physician pronounces him a 'healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male' in new report
Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
- Joe Biden's physician pronounced him a 'healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male' in a new health summary.
- Biden has faced questions about his age as the oldest sitting president in history.
- The White House says he keeps up with a "grueling schedule" and is up to the job.
President Joe Biden's physician pronounced him a "healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male" who is "fit for duty," according to a new health summary released by the White House on Thursday.
Biden is being treated for atrial fibrillation, hyperlipidemia, gastroesophageal reflux, seasonal allergies, spinal arthritis, and mild sensory peripheral neuropathy of the feet, Biden's physician Kevin O'Connor wrote in a memo. The president takes three common prescription medications and two over-the-counter, and he exercises at least five days per week, he wrote.
"President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency..." O'Connor wrote.
O'Connor said the "most notable interval history" over the past year was Biden's bouts in the summer with COVID-19, from which he has recovered and has not experienced residual symptoms.
Biden received his routine annual physical at Walter Reed Medical Center Thursday morning. He came home from his appointment displaying his energy by jogging part of the way from Marine One to the Oval Office, according to a pool report.
Biden is the oldest sitting president in history. He has said he intends to run for a second term.
Biden's medical report comes a day after Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley called for "mandatory mental competency tests" for politicians older than 75, a dig at both Biden and former President Donald Trump. Trump would be 78 if elected in 2024 and Biden would be 82.
Polling by Insider and Morning Consult found 84% of respondents supported proposals for physical and mental examinations for the presidency before a leader is allowed to serve.
Insider's 2022 "Red, White, and Gray" series explored the costs, benefits, and dangers of life in a democracy helmed by those of advanced age, where issues of profound importance to the nation's youth and future — technology, civil rights, energy, the environment — are largely in the hands of older politicians.
During Thursday's White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to respond directly to Haley's comments but said "we've heard these types of attacks" before. People said Biden couldn't do it in 2020 and "he beat them," she said.
Jean-Pierre was asked whether Biden will be up to the job, not just in two years to finish his term, but in six years when he'll be 86. That is the age he will be at the end of a second term if he is reelected.
"Yes," she said. "You asked me if he's going to be up to it. Yes."
Biden has a "grueling schedule that he keeps up with, that sometimes some of us are not able to keep up with," she said.
Biden's last medical report in November 2021 also described him as "healthy" and "vigorous" and said he was "fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency."
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/hg0s2V8
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