Biden’s annual physical results closely watched
BETHESDA, Md. — President Joe Biden spent about 2 1/2 hours at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Wednesday for an annual physical that will be closely watched as the 81-year-old president seeks reelection.
The oldest president in U.S. history, Biden would be 86 by the end of a sec- ond term, should he win one. After his last exam, per- formed in February 2023, doctors declared Biden “healthy, vigorous” and “fit” to handle his White House duties.
But voters are approach- ing this year’s election with misgivings about Biden’s age, having scrutinized his gaffes, his coughing, his slow walking and even a tumble off his bicycle.
The White House said it will release a written summary of the “rou- tine” checkup later. After he returned to the White House, Biden attended an event on combating crime and suggested that when it came to his health, “there is nothing different than last year.”
He also joked about his age, gesturing toward the assembled press corps and telling police leaders at the gathering, “They think I look too young.”
Former President Don- ald Trump, 77, is the favorite to lock up the Republi- can nomination later this month, which would bring him closer to a November rematch against Biden. Trump was 70 when he took office in 2017, which made him the oldest Amer- ican president to be inau- gurated, until Biden broke his record by being inaugu- rated at 78 in 2021.
A recent special counsel’s report investigating Biden’s possession of classified documents repeatedly derided Biden’s memory, calling it “hazy,” “fuzzy,” “faulty,” “poor” and having “signif- icant limitations.” It also noted that Biden could not recall defining milestones in his own life such as when his son Beau died or when he served as vice president.
Still, addressing reporters the evening of the report’s release, Biden said “my memory is fine” and grew visibly angry as he denied forgetting when his son died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.
Testing of memory and cognitive skills are not usu- ally part of routine phys- icals like the one Biden is underdoing.
His last physical showed that the president had a lesion removed from his chest over the previous year, but the results then other- wise largely matched the findings after Biden’s pre- vious exam in November 2021. That report said his occasional coughing was due to acid reflux, while his stiffened gait was the result of spinal arthritis, a previously broken foot and neuropathy in his feet.
The White House also announced last summer that Biden had begun using a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine at night to help with sleep apnea — which could be reflected in the final report his doctors will release on Biden’s physical on Wednesday.
The president had a colonoscopy in 2021, in which a 3 millimeter “benign-appearing polyp” was identified and removed. In 1988, Biden had surgery to repair two brain aneurysms, which are weak bulges in arteries, and one of them leaking, but subsequent examinations have never revealed evidence of recurrences.
Many Americans, including Democrats, have expressed reservations about Biden seeking a second term. Only 37% of Democrats say Biden should pursue reelection, down from 52% before the 2022 midterm elections, according to a poll from The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.