Publish medical records, ‘healthy’ Harris tells Trump

After publishing a report saying the Vice-President is in ‘excellent health’, Harris’s campaign draws attention to a series of newspaper articles pointing at Trump’s possible ‘cognitive decline’

Democratic White House candidate Kamala Harris is in “excellent health” and fit for the presidency, according to a medical report published by the White House on Saturday (October 12, 2024), as she challenged Republican rival Donald Trump to publish his own health records.

“Vice President Harris remains in excellent health,” her physician Joshua Simmons said in the report, adding that she “possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”

Speaking to presspersons on Saturday (October 12, 2024) ahead of a trip to North Carolina, Ms. Harris called Mr. Trump’s unwillingness to publish his records “a further example of his lack of transparency.”

“It is obvious that his team at least, does not want the American people to see everything about who he is... and whether or not he is actually fit to do the job of being President of the United States,” she said.

But as Ms. Harris ramped up pressure for details on the physical health and mental acuity of the 78-year-old Mr. Trump, the former President’s campaign pushed back.

Mr. Trump is also “in perfect and excellent health to be Commander in Chief,” it said in a statement, and charged that Ms. Harris lacked his strength to lead the country.

‘Unremarkable’ test

Ms. Harris’s most recent physical exam, conducted in April, was “unremarkable,” according to Mr. Simmons.

In the detailed report, her physician noted that Ms. Harris suffers from seasonal allergies and hives, which are managed by non-prescription as well as prescription medications. The Vice-President is also slightly nearsighted and wears contact lenses, the report said.

Mr. Trump became the oldest presidential nominee from a major political party in U.S. history after 81-year-old President Joe Biden withdrew from the White House race in July. Ms. Harris is 59.

Mr. Biden passed the torch to Harris after a disastrous debate against Mr. Trump raised concerns in the Democratic Party about his own mental sharpness.

But Mr. Trump’s age has not appeared to be a deal-breaker for voters, as polls show a knife-edge battle with Ms. Harris in the November 5 presidential election.

Ms. Harris’s campaign drew attention to a recent series of articles in The New York Times that raised concerns about Mr. Trump’s failure to disclose basic information about his health. The newspaper has also published an analysis of Mr. Trump’s language showing that his speeches are increasingly long and “confused,” and include vulgarities — a trend seen by experts as a possible sign of cognitive decline.

Mr. Trump has continued to insist he is fit for office, and on Saturday (October 12, 2024), his campaign republished statements from his former White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, that were released following the July assassination attempt on Mr. Trump in which a bullet grazed his right ear.

In the statement dated July 26, Mr. Jackson, who is now a Republican Congressman from Texas, said Mr. Trump was doing “extremely well” and “rapidly recovering” from the wound.

Active campaigns

Mr. Trump’s campaign also circulated a note from another doctor who examined him in September 2023.Mr. Trump’s campaign said he had maintained “an extremely busy and active campaign schedule unlike any other in political history,” and asserted that Ms. Harris’s campaign schedule showed her to be “wholly unqualified to be President of the United States.”

Mr. Trump’s personal and White House doctors have at times made seemingly exaggerated claims about his health.

In 2015, Mr. as Trump was running for the presidency, his doctor Harold Bornstein declared that he would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” And Mr. Jackson said in 2018 that with a better diet Mr. Trump could “live to be 200”.

Published - October 14, 2024 12:00 pm IST