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Harris releases her medical report — and uses it to raise questions about Trump

Vice President Harris takes questions from reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Oct.12, 2024.
Brendan Smialowski
/
AFP
Vice President Harris takes questions from reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Oct.12, 2024.

Updated October 12, 2024 at 18:11 PM ET

Vice President Harris on Saturday released a medical report — a document that her campaign is using to draw a contrast with her older rival — and dared former President Donald Trump to do the same.

This is the first time Harris, 59, has released results of a physical. Similar to reports released by previous commanders-in-chief, the two-page letter says that Harris is in excellent health and has “the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”

Harris told reporters traveling with her that every candidate for president had released medical information "except Donald Trump in this election cycle."

"It is clear to me that he and his team do not want the American people to really see what it is that he is doing and whether or not he actually is fit to do the job of being president of the United States," she said.

Trump released a three-paragraph letter about his health a year ago

This medical disclosure come as Harris and Trump seem locked in a tie, less than a month before Election Day — each looking for ways to shake up the race and win over the small number of undecided or persuadable voters in swing states.

Harris’ campaign has been raising questions about whether Trump, 78, is up to the job, drawing attention in particular to his rambling and disjointed speeches as a sign that he has slipped.

"He talks at his rallies about fictional characters. He constantly is in a state of grievance about himself," Harris said on Saturday, rhyming off a list of failings. "He is quite unfit to do the job," she said.

Trump in Nov. 2023 released a three-paragraph letter from a doctor about his health. It said Trump’s “overall health is excellent” and that his “cognitive exams were exceptional.”

On Saturday, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said that the former president had voluntarily released information over the years that showed "he is in perfect and excellent health to be commander in chief."

Trump’s health has been a subject of speculation since he first released a short statement as a candidate in 2015 that said he would be “the healthiest individual ever elected” to the office — a letter that his then-doctor later said that Trump himself had dictated. The veracity of subsequent reports were also widely questioned.

When President Biden, 81, was still running for a second term, stumbles, mumbles and mistakes drew headlines and his age became his greatest political liability with voters, while Trump’s age and acuity came under less scrutiny.

After he was seemingly overwhelmed during his June debate with Trump, Biden was pressured by his party to bow out and pass the torch to a younger leader.

Here are some highlights from Harris' medical report

Dr. Joshua Simmons, a White House Medical Unit physician who has been Harris' doctor since Jan. 2021, wrote the three-page report. He said.

Copyright 2024 NPR

Miguel Macias
Miguel Macias is an audio producer and reporter based in Spain. Prior to returning to his home country in 2023, Macias spent more than two decades living and working in the U.S. Most recently Macias was a Senior Producer at NPR's All Things Considered, in Washington, D.C., where he worked in a number of capacities, such as producing the award-winning series Climate, migration and the far right.
Elena Moore
Elena Moore is a political reporter covering the 2024 election for the Washington Desk. She focuses her reporting on new voters and youth politics.