Joe Biden’s physician said on Wednesday that the president is “fit for duty” based on the results of his annual physical examination.
In a statement on Wednesday, Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, wrote that the president received a detailed physical examination, including consultations with several specialists, and found “no new concerns” since his last exam in February 2023.
Biden “fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations,” O’Connor wrote.
At age 81, Biden is the oldest president to hold office and has faced scrutiny about his age and mental acuity.
While speaking at a New York reception earlier this month, Biden mixed up Angela Merkel with another former German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, who died in 2017. The next day, special counsel Robert Hur said in a report that he had decided not to indict Biden for retaining classified documents after his vice presidency because of Biden’s “significantly limited” memory, among other factors.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday that Biden was not administered a cognitive test because O’Connor and his neurologist “do not believe he needs one.” O’Connor also ruled out several neurological conditions, according to his statement later that day.
“An extremely detailed neurologic exam was again reassuring in that there were no findings which would be consistent with any cerebellar or other central neurological disorder, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s or ascending lateral sclerosis, nor are there any signs of cervical myelopathy,” O’Connor wrote.
This health update is expected to be the last update about the president’s health before the 2024 presidential elections, CNN reported.
Biden and former President Donald Trump have been victorious in their respective primaries so far, and the 2024 election will likely be a repeat of the 2020 showdown between the two candidates.
Trump, 77, has also faced questions about his own health and fitness for office, but polls suggest voters are less worried. A recent poll from The New York Times and Siena College found that 70% of voters are concerned about Biden’s age, while less than half of voters said they held those worries about Trump.