Vice President Harris on Saturday released a medical report — a document that her campaign is using to draw a contrast with her older rival — and dared former President Donald Trump to do the same.
This is the first time Harris, 59, has released results of a physical. Similar to reports released by previous commanders-in-chief, the two-page letter says that Harris is in excellent health and has “the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”
Harris told reporters traveling with her that every candidate for president had released medical information "except Donald Trump in this election cycle."
"It is clear to me that he and his team do not want the American people to really see what it is that he is doing and whether or not he actually is fit to do the job of being president of the United States," she said.
Trump released a three-paragraph letter about his health a year ago
This medical disclosure come as Harris and Trump seem locked in a tie, less than a month before Election Day — each looking for ways to shake up the race and win over the small number of undecided or persuadable voters in swing states.
Harris’ campaign has been raising questions about whether Trump, 78, is up to the job, drawing attention in particular to his rambling and disjointed speeches as a sign that he has slipped.
"He talks at his rallies about fictional characters. He constantly is in a state of grievance about himself," Harris said on Saturday, rhyming off a list of failings. "He is quite unfit to do the job," she said.
Trump in Nov. 2023 released a three-paragraph letter from a doctor about his health. It said Trump’s “overall health is excellent” and that his “cognitive exams were exceptional.”
On Saturday, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said that the former president had voluntarily released information over the years that showed "he is in perfect and excellent health to be commander in chief."
Trump’s health has been a subject of speculation since he first released a short statement as a candidate in 2015 that said he would be “the healthiest individual ever elected” to the office — a letter that his then-doctor later said that Trump himself had dictated. The veracity of subsequent reports were also widely questioned.
When President Biden, 81, was still running for a second term, stumbles, mumbles and mistakes drew headlines and his age became his greatest political liability with voters, while Trump’s age and acuity came under less scrutiny.
After he was seemingly overwhelmed during his June debate with Trump, Biden was pressured by his party to bow out and pass the torch to a younger leader.
Here are some highlights from Harris' medical report
Dr. Joshua Simmons, a White House Medical Unit physician who has been Harris' doctor since Jan. 2021, wrote the three-page report. He said.
- Harris has seasonal allergies and has been on allergen immunotherapy to reduce her symptoms. She occasionally uses Atrovent but has never experienced severe symptoms, angioedema or anaphylaxis, her doctor said.
- She is nearsighted and wears contacts, but can read comfortably without contacts or glasses.
- Her most recent physical exam was in April 2024. She is up-to-date on preventive care like colonoscopy and annual mammograms. She takes a Vitamin D3 supplement.
- She is at low risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
- She works out daily and eats healthy; does not smoke and drinks only occasionally and in moderation.
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