President Biden, the nation’s oldest commander in chief, arrived Thursday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, for his long-delayed annual physical.
Mr. Biden, 80, is weighing a reelection bid, and his physical fitness and cognitive abilities will be top concerns for voters if he does seek a second term.
The president has repeatedly dismissed concerns about his age. If Mr. Biden were to run and win reelection, he would be 86 at the completion of a full second term.
“I would be completely, thoroughly honest with the American people if I thought there were any health problem, anything that would keep me from being able to do the job,” Mr. Biden said last week in an interview with “PBS NewsHour.”
It has been more than a year since Mr. Biden’s first exam, which took place in November 2021, just days before his 79th birthday. That physical featured a colonoscopy using anesthesia that required Mr. Biden to turn over presidential powers to Vice President Kamala Harris for 85 minutes.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, issued a six-page report after that exam giving the president a clean bill of health. He found Mr. Biden has a “perceptibly stiffer” gait and “increasing frequency and severity” of throat clearing, but nothing of serious concern.
Dr. O’Connor declared the president “healthy,” “vigorous” and “fit for duty.”
The White House initially promised that the second checkup would be completed by the end of 2022. Then it promised it would be done by the end of January.
As recently as Jan. 20, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the exam would take place “by the time the end of this month is out.”
Administration officials blamed the delay on scheduling and the president’s frequent travels.
The White House this week pledged that Mr. Biden’s physician will release a memo detailing the results. It is unlikely that Dr. O’Connor, who has never briefed reporters directly, will be made available to answer questions.
It is also unclear if the president, whose gaffes have made headlines, will submit to a cognitive exam.
In September, Mr. Biden publicly asked, “Where’s Jackie?” while he searched for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski, Indiana Republican, who had died in a car accident a month earlier. The president had publicly mourned her death and even called her family to express his condolences.
Mr. Biden also took a spill while riding his bike last summer in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, though he did not receive medical attention for the incident.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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