DOCTOR SAYS BIDEN IS IN GOOD HEALTH

Despite testing positive twice last year for the coronavirus, President Joe Biden has no long-term symptoms and has been declared “healthy, vigorous” and “fit” to handle his White House responsibilities, according to a routine medical checkup performed Thursday.

The findings were contained in a memo by Biden’s doctor, summarizing the exams conducted during a three-hour stay at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

The conclusions reached by Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s personal physician since 2009, are likely to be highly scrutinized as the oldest president in history makes plans for an expected re-election campaign.

O’Connor concluded in a five-page memo that Biden “remains a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.” But the doctor did not speculate about where Biden’s health might be at age 86, when a second term might end.

The president had a lesion removed from his chest that is undergoing a traditional biopsy. But Thursday’s results largely matched the findings after the president’s last exam in November 2021, which said his coughing was due to acid reflux and his stiffened gait was the result of spinal arthritis, a previously broken foot and neuropathy in his feet.

Many people have expressed reservations about Biden seeking a second term in 2024. Only 37 percent of Democrats say Biden should pursue re-election, down from 52 percent before last November’s elections, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.