Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is in “excellent health” and “possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency,” according to a medical report released Saturday by the White House.
The vice president’s physician, Dr. Joshua R. Simmons, wrote in the detailed report that Harris is mildly nearsighted and deals with seasonal allergies and chronic hives, but she is otherwise fit to serve.
“Vice President Harris maintains a healthy, active lifestyle despite her busy schedule, including daily aerobic exercise and core strength training,” Simmons writes. “She eats a very healthy diet. She does not use tobacco products and drinks only occasionally and in moderation.”
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He reported that Harris’ most recent April 2024 physical was unremarkable, but noted she has a history of colon cancer on her mother’s side.
Democratic campaign operatives seemed to hope that the release of the vice president’s health information will focus more attention on Donald Trump’s age and raise doubts about his physical health and mental acuity.
The surprise power play comes just 24 days before Americans will choose their next president.
Vice President Kamala Harris receives her booster of the Moderna vaccine.
REUTERSHarris campaign officials view the disclosure as an opportunity to contrast the 59-year-old vice president’s vitality against the 78-year-old former president’s exceedingly unhinged behavior and meandering speeches on the campaign trail. (Not to mention his surreal debate performance last month that embarrassed leaders of his own party.)
And the Harris campaign hopes to leave voters with the impression that Trump—who has refused to release even basic information about his health record—has something to hide, according to a senior Harris campaign aide.
In response to Harris’ disclosure, Trump’s campaign on Saturday issued a statement assuring he is in good health even after an assassin’s bullet grazed his ear in July.
“President Trump has voluntarily released updates from his personal physician, as well as detailed reports from Dr. Ronny Jackson who treated him after the first assassination attempt,” the Trump spokesperson, Steven Cheung, wrote to the Daily Beast. “All have concluded he is in perfect and excellent health to be Commander in Chief.”
Jackson, a Republican congressman who used to be Trump’s White House physician, has issued updates on Trump’s health since the shooting, even as his medical license appears to have lapsed.
The spokesperson also argued that Trump has upheld a more intense campaigning schedule than has Harris.
“He has maintained an extremely busy and active campaign schedule unlike any other in political history, whereas Kamala Harris has been unable to keep up with the demands of campaigning and reveals on a daily basis she is wholly unqualified to be President of the United States,” Cheung wrote. “Her schedule is much lighter because, it is said, she does not have the stamina of President Trump. Polls are reflective of this.”
In the past, Trump released a fawning letter from his doctor, Bruce Aronwald, who described the former president’s cognitive performance on exams was “exceptional,” but he has never released any medical records.
If elected, Trump would become the oldest president in U.S. history by the end of the only term for which he is constitutionally eligible. And he would be just the second president in history to serve two non-consecutive terms.
After surviving the assassination attempt at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, Trump promised in August that he would release his medical records to the public.
He told CBS News in an exclusive interview that he was not suffering from any post-traumatic stress disorder after a bullet—one of eight shots fired at him—grazed his ear. He said he just had a medical exam and received a “perfect score,” and two cognitive tests, which he said he “aced.”
“I got everything right,” Trump said. “And one of the doctors said, ‘I’ve never seen that before, where you get everything right.’ No, I have no problem. I’d go a step further, I think anybody that runs for president, whether they're 75 or 65 or 45, I think should take a cognitive test.”
