Gaffe a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: Does Biden’s Physical Clear Up Fitness For Office Worries?
© AP Photo / Alex Brandon
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Democrat Joe Biden is the oldest US president in history. In 2021, when Biden underwent his last physical examination, the White House released a six-page health report, as per decades-long tradition, painting the picture of a healthy man fit for the burden of presidential duties.
The presidential physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, has issued a report on the medical examination of the 80-year-old US President, carried out at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland. The assessment states Biden continues to be "fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency."
The 5-page medical assessment deemed Biden to be a "healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male" despite having tested positive for the novel coronavirus on two occasions in mid 2022. O'Connor noted Biden has not experienced any residual symptoms considered to be "long COVID."
The comprehensive review also detailed that Biden had a small lesion removed from his chest following a dermatology consultation, with O'Connor explaining that the excised lesion was likely the result of Biden spending "a good deal of time in the sun in his youth."
Unlike in his past exams, Biden did not undergo a colonoscopy. It was further outlined the president has maintained an exercise routine of at least five days per week. Having lost six pounds from his last exam, he currently weighs 178 pounds.
As for the president's gait, O'Connor noted it remained stiff but that it had not worsened since his last examination.
Presidential Exam
80-year-old POTUS and renowned gaffe-meister Joe Biden had taken his yearly physical examination on February 16 after a delay of several weeks due to a "busy and evolving travel schedule." While this is all part and parcel of a long tradition dating to then-president Richard Nixon, whereby the country's leaders publicly disclose the state of their health to the nation, this time around the report is definitely put under the microscope, with the 2024 presidential campaign around the corner.
A pretty standard array of measurements and blood work, the presidential physical includes a check of vital statistics, like height and weight, resting heart rate and blood pressure. A visual exam is also carried out of the president's ears, nose, and throat, with hearing and eye sight checked, and pulmonary, neurologic, genitourinary and musculoskeletal surveys. A review of the medications used by POTUS is also a must, with blood drawn for further routine lab tests.
But the fact of the matter is, a physical is exactly that - "a physical" - and falls short of really shedding light on the question uppermost when it comes to Biden: is he mentally all there?
The 46th commander-in-chief, who is yet to officially come clean on whether he is throwing his hat in the ring for the 2024 presidency, has teased that “it’s my intention” to seek a second term. But the stiff-gaited octogenarian will bring to the table a track-record mired in slews of gaffes, bizarre body movements and embarrassing instances that have left many questioning whether he is mentally fit to run the country?
'Healthy & Vigorous 78-Year-Old'
There is no indication whether cognitive tests were performed when Joe Biden was given a relatively clean bill of health by Dr. Kevin O'Connor after his last checkup on November 19, 2021. O'Connor did, though, acknowledge the obvious - "relatively minor" signs of old age creeping up on Biden, such as "stiffer gait."
“A combination of significant spinal arthritis, post-fracture ‘limp and compensation’ and a mild sensory peripheral neuropathy of the feet are the explanation for the subtle gait changes which I was investigating,” O’Connor wrote.
Also mentioned were annoying incidents of "throat clearing" (the result of gastroesophageal reflux"). Biden, who has abstained from drinking alcohol or smoking, purportedly did not register any grave health concerns since the time he underwent brain surgery for an aneurysm in 1988, when he was senator. Dr. Kevin O'Connor dodged journalists, who had numerous questions regarding Joe Biden's health up their sleeves. Unlike, incidentally, Donald Trump's then-physician Dr. Ronny Jackson. Reporters were able to grill him for close to an hour back in 2018, when critics attacked Trump over his perceived health and mental failings.
During his last test in 2021, Democrat Biden was also subjected to a colonoscopy under general anesthesia, which obliged him to briefly hand over the reigns of power to US vice president Kamala Harris. Yes, the very same Harris that Biden on numerous occasions appeared to promote to president in recurring embarrassing verbal slip-ups.
'Gaffe-Machine'
In fact, Joe Biden has turned into a meme-generator of sorts, offering up critics an endless array of slip-ups to choose from. Indeed, take your pick:
Months into his presidency, Biden struggled to recall what job exactly he had taken on, on occasion referring to himself by his previous title of senator.
Biden, as earlier mentioned, on numerous occasions referred to his second-in-command, Vice President Kamala Harris, as POTUS.
Remembering or pronouncing names, even that of his Secretary of Defense, Army General Lloyd Austin, has proven extremely challenging.
Biden has been increasingly vague on geography, mistaking, for example, Iran for Iraq during a speech in Tampa, Florida.
Biden calling the dead had many profoundly worried, as during one memorable verbal misfire he appeared to look for Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski at a White House conference eight weeks after her death in a car crash. “Representative Jackie — are you here? Where’s Jackie?” the president had asked from the podium, adding, “I think she was going to be here."
Some queried if Biden was seeing ghosts when he appeared to have extended his hand for a handshake to nowhere after finishing a speech in the city of Seattle, Washington.
On a more physical level, Biden added to his growing number of missteps when he accidentally fell off his bike, getting caught on the pedals.
40% of Work Year on Vacay
As president of the United States, Biden splurged 146 days on vacation in 2022, or, in other words, 40% of his work year. This, said, outpaced all other preceding presidents in modern history, according to Citizen Free Press.
Screenshot of Twitter account of Citizen Free Press.
© Photo : Twitter
Since taking office, Biden traipsed off on 42 personal trips, all in all amounting to 126 days, media reports estimated this January, with 73 days spent at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. To be more specific, 16 days offered Biden leisure time at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, over the course of five trips, and 37 days at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. There were also jaunts to Nantucket, Massachusetts, and Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
“Voters want Republicans, who actually show up to work, to dig America out of Biden’s recession, secure the southern border, and put an end to reckless spending of taxpayer dollars,” Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told media last year, ahead of the November midterms.
In response, White House spokesman Andrew Bates suggested the presidency was a “nonstop job that chief executives can do from anywhere in the world.”
US President Joe Biden trips as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on March 19, 2021.
© AFP 2023 / ERIC BARADAT
Test For 'Sleepy Joe'
Amid the snowballing concerns regarding Biden, dozens of GOP lawmakers called on him last year to "follow the example set by former President Trump” and take a cognitive test. The group, led by a former White House doctor, sent a letter to the president “express[ing] concern with your current cognitive state.”
“We believe that, regardless of gender, age, or political party, all presidents should follow the example set by former President [Donald] Trump to document and demonstrate sound mental abilities,” they wrote.
Trump himself has repeatedly demanded a drug test for 'Sleepy Joe,' before or after their debates in late 2020. The Republican ex-POTUS boasted about how he had "aced" a "very hard" cognitive test which included checking his ability to name exotic animals and repeat basic sentences aloud. Trump, 76, has not passed up opportunities, which have been quite plentiful, to mock Biden for his verbal salad and gaffes, saying:
“We've never had anything like this and we have a president right now, sadly, who has absolutely no idea what the hell is happening ... He's shaking hands with the air. He's walking around somewhat bewildered - I'd say it's no good - and taking orders from the Easter Bunny.”
Just recently, former UN Ambassador, Republican Nikki Haley, who officially launched her 2024 candidacy bid on February 15, reiterated GOP calls for mandatory “mental competency tests” for politicians older than 75 - an implied nod at Biden and Trump.
And yet, Biden and his aides have dismissed all concerns regarding his mental fitness, assuring he was primed for the country's top job.
Ahead of Biden's physical, Tennessee GOP Rep. Scott DesJarlais, himself a former medical professional, urged the White House incumbent to undergo a cognitive test, telling the media:
"I think it would be important to see a very thorough and comprehensive cognitive function study that is released with transparency to the general public. The American people want to know that their commander-in-chief is fully capable of performing at the highest level to protect the safety and security of the nation."
30 September 2022, 18:42 GMT
One may anticipate that the report on Biden's health will fall short of clearing up any of the concerns that have been repeatedly voiced by Republicans and have been reflected in polls. Ahead of last year's November midterms, over two-thirds of voters surveyed expressed their worries about Biden's cognitive abilities. Sixty-four percent of American adults said they were either somewhat or very concerned about the president's mental wellbeing, with nearly 40% of those people self-identified Democrats.
Despite personally acknowledging he could “drop dead tomorrow” and conceding it is “legitimate” for voters to wonder how mentally and physically equipped he is to carry out his duties, America’s oldest sitting president has repeatedly called out his critics, urging them to "just watch me."
20 November 2022, 09:29 GMT
