US Vice President and Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris is set to release her medical report publicly on Saturday, which will prove her medical competency and fitness required to be the 47th US president.
As per the news agency AFP, an adviser to Harris’ campaign said that the report will affirm that “She possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency”.
This strategy of Harris aims to target her opponent in the race to the White House, former US President and Republican Presidential nominee, Donald Trump. Trump is currently 78 years old and will be 82 by the time the tenure of the soon-to-be-elected President ends.
Through making her health records public, Harris is said to be pressurising Trump to make his health record known to the public, which he has refused to do in the past.
While Trump claims to be in excellent health, he has not provided a detailed medical report for his campaign. In late 2023, he released a brief note from his former White House doctor, describing him as being in “excellent” health, yet lacking specifics on his medical tests. The same doctor, Ronny Jackson, also confirmed Trump’s recovery following a bullet grazing during an assassination attempt in July.
Following President Joe Biden‘s withdrawal from the race at 81 years old, Trump became the oldest presidential nominee in US history.
Despite concerns over his age, Trump’s vitality has not significantly impacted his polling numbers ahead of the closely contested November 5 election against Harris. The Harris campaign has drawn attention to a recent New York Times series highlighting Trump’s failure to disclose fundamental health information. The articles included an analysis suggesting that Trump’s increasingly lengthy and disjointed speeches might indicate cognitive changes.
Last November, Trump acknowledged Biden’s birthday by sharing a letter from his physician proclaiming him to be in “excellent” health, but the letter lacked vital details such as weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.
Interestingly, Trump has previously questioned Biden’s health when the latter was running for re-election but is now facing increased scrutiny regarding his own.