As concerns about 81-year-old Joe Biden’s health and mental capacity for a second term grow, he went to a hospital on Wednesday for his final annual physical before November’s election.
A synopsis of the test results from the military hospital Walter Reed outside of Washington, according to the White House, would be made public later in the day.
Details regarding the condition of the oldest-ever leader of the United States will be keenly monitored.
Biden, who is expected to face the 77-year-old former president of the United States again in November’s election, went to the US presidents’ frequent medical facility via a quick helicopter ride.
As reporters yelled questions at Biden as he exited the White House, he answered, “I’m going to Walter Reed to get my physical.”
As voter concerns about a leader who would be 86 years old at the end of a second term in office grow, Biden is scheduled to have a routine medical exam.
This month, a harsh special counsel report that painted Biden as old and forgetful gave his Republican opponents more reason to attack the issue.
Although he was found not guilty of keeping classified materials in his house or garage unlawfully, the inquiry concluded that a jury would view him as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Two elderly men
At a White House press conference, Biden launched a fierce assault, insisting that his memory was “fine” and criticizing the special counsel for asserting that he was unable to recall the exact moment his son Beau passed away from cancer.
However, Biden adopted a more lighthearted tone this week in an attempt to shift the focus back to his octogenarian opponent, Donald Trump.
Biden stated that he was a better choice than “the other guy,” who was only a few years younger, in an interview with late-night TV comedian Seth Meyers on Monday.
Biden had a clean report of health from the previous year’s physical, despite having a malignant skin lesion removed from his chest.
After a medical examination in 2023, Biden’s doctor, Kevin Connor, declared that the 80-year-old male president was still in good condition and fit to carry out the duties of the office.
Trump, who is 77 years old, has also drawn criticism for a string of linguistic blunders and memory problems. However, Trump constantly portrays Biden as pitifully elderly, senile, and unfit for leadership.
He recently claimed that Viktor Orban was president of Turkey, not Hungary, and confused Republican opponent Nikki Haley with Democratic ex House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Trump published a doctor’s statement late last year stating that he was in “excellent” health, but the note lacked specifics and did not include the tests he had when he had a physical in September 2023.
The letter withheld basic details like Trump’s height, weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure, instead stating that the results of his cognitive examinations were “exceptional.”
