White House doctor

Biden’s physical finds him ‘healthy, active, robust,’ says White House doctor

The results from the annual exam will be closely read as the 81-year-old president seeks reelection.

By ELI STOKOLS

President Joe Biden’s physician declared him to be “a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency,” according to a six-page report released Wednesday afternoon following a three-hour examination earlier in the day.

White House physician Kevin O’Connor found “no new concerns” during his exam. In his report, he wrote Biden is being treated for a number of ailments consistent with his age: “sleep apnea, a-fib with normal ventricular response, hyperlipidemia, gastroesophageal reflux, seasonal allergies, spinal arthritis and sensory peripheral neuropathy of the feet.”

The president’s gait, O’Connor noted, “remains stiff, but has not worsened since last year.”

On Wednesday morning, Biden took an unannounced trip to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to get his annual physical.

Biden, whose public schedule was bare when the White House first distributed it Tuesday night, left for the check-up just before 9 a.m., informing reporters of his destination as he headed for Marine One.

This is the third straight year Biden has received a physical exam in the first quarter of the year. The secrecy around the annual visit to Walter Reed was not unusual, but it underscored anew the heightened sensitivities around the subject of Biden’s age and health, a concern for many voters as the 81-year-old seeks another four years in office this November.

Recent polls have shown that Biden’s age and fitness for office are his biggest liability, with 76 percent of voters expressing concern in a recent NBC News poll earlier this month. And a Quinnipiac University survey last week showed that just 34 percent of Americans believe Biden has “the mental fitness to serve a second term.”

That data emerged just weeks after a controversial report by Special Counsel Robert Hur, who opted against charging Biden in a classified documents probe and wrote that he found the president to be an “elderly” man with a poor memory. Biden and aides slammed Hur, a Republican, for going beyond the scope of the investigation to criticize the president publicly in an election year.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden did not undergo a cognitive test during his exam Wednesday, explaining that O’Connor did not deem one to be necessary. She said the rigors of being president amounted to a cognitive test “every day.”

Biden’s last physical came just over a year ago, when the president’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, declared him “healthy and vigorous” in his public report. It also noted some age-related conditions the president was being treated for including foot pain, elevated cholesterol and a minor heart arrhythmia.

Appearing at the White House shortly after returning from Walter Reed, Biden responded to a question about his examination and health during a roundtable on crime. “I’m all right,” he told reporters. “Everything is squared away.”

When a reporter asked if there was “anything concerning that Americans should know about,” Biden quipped: “They think I look too young.”