Biden Gets Annual Physical at Walter Reed Medical Center

(Bloomberg News/TNS/Hamodia) — President Joe Biden underwent a regular medical check-up, which took place at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center during an election season in which voters have expressed concerns about his age and fitness to serve a second term.

At 81, Biden is already the oldest president in U.S. history as he seeks reelection in November, with a likely rematch against former President Donald Trump, who is 77. Both cruised to victory in their parties’ Michigan primary elections Tuesday.

The White House described the appointment as “a routine annual physical.”

The president has faced growing questions about his physical and mental health in the last year, intensified by a special counsel report questioning his memory, and a series of incidents in which he mixed up the names of world leaders.

After the president’s physical last February, his longtime physician Kevin O’Connor said Biden was “healthy,” “vigorous,” and fit to execute his presidential duties.

Still, that exam did little to dissuade Republican attacks over his age or voter unease. An NBC News poll taken in January showed three-quarters of voters, including half of Democrats, say they have concerns about his age. Less than half harbor such worries about Trump, even though the Republican is only four years younger.

‘Elderly man’

The issue of Biden’s age received more scrutiny after Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report into the president’s handling of classified documents, which described him as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” One of the most startling claims in the report was that Biden did not remember the timeframe for when his son Beau died.

The president reacted angrily to that assertion in conversations with House Democrats and in an impromptu prime time press conference where he insisted his “memory is fine.”

Yet he undermined his case at the press conference by referring to Egypt’s president as the leader of Mexico.

Late Wednesday afternoon, the White House released a written report by Dr. Kevin C. O’Connor, the president’s physician, in which he described the president’s health issues and declared, “President Biden is a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief.”

The report stated that a neurological exam was given which ruled out stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s or ascending lateral sclerosis and any signs of cervical myelopathy.

However, no cognitive exam was administered, which would test for memory lapses or similar deficiencies.