The physical condition of 81-year-old US President Biden has once again attracted attention.
On February 28th, the White House announced the physical examination results of President Biden. According to the medical examination results released by the White House, Biden is a "healthy" and "strong" 81-year-old man.
Kevin O ‘Connor, the White House presidential doctor, said in a press release that Biden was still "fit to perform his duties".
Biden is the oldest incumbent president in American history. Since he became president, he has received a medical examination every year. Although the conclusion of the physical examination report is always "fit for duty", the president’s physical and mental health continues to attract attention from all walks of life in the United States at the age of 81.
Just before this year’s medical report was released, Biden’s memory problem also caused widespread controversy.
This should start with the "File Gate" incident in 2022. In November of that year, Biden’s office and residence were successively found to have two batches of confidential documents. However, after 15 months of investigation, on February 8, 2024, Robert Hull, the special prosecutor in charge of investigating the matter, issued a report saying that Biden would not face charges for improper handling of classified documents due to insufficient evidence and other factors. Moreover, Biden was mentioned as a "well-intentioned old man with a poor memory". One of the most surprising statements in the report is that Biden doesn’t even remember the time of his son bo Biden’s death.
Although he was able to "get out" at the legal level, Biden was caught in another embarrassing situation because of the report-at the age of 81, he seemed to be considered to have a poor memory. Some Republicans claim that this shows that Biden is "unfit" to serve as president.
That night, Biden himself responded angrily to the report at the press conference, saying that his memory was "very good". But at the press conference, he made another mistake and confused the Egyptian president with the Mexican president.
This is not the first time that such details have appeared. On January 25th, Biden suddenly "babbled" when he gave a speech at a brewery in Wisconsin, USA: "Oh, Earth Knight, thank you for the Great Lakes. I want to know why … ",the audience laughed. Biden’s speech was also described by American netizens as "sounding like another language".
And he confuses people’s names, time and other mistakes very frequently. However, in the medical report on the 28th, the doctor did not mention Biden’s cognitive ability. Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Jean-Pierre gave a negative answer to the question about whether the president would take a cognitive test, saying that his "doctor didn’t think he needed it".
In addition to doubts about memory and cognition, what worries people more is Biden’s physical condition. As mentioned in the physical examination report, Biden has a stiff body, which sometimes leads to his unsteady gait, and Biden falls more and more frequently, including riding a bicycle in Hobos, Delaware in June 2022, at the graduation ceremony of the US Air Force Academy in June 2023, and climbing the stairs of Air Force One many times. In recent months, Biden boarded Air Force One through a short staircase leading to the belly of the plane, instead of using a longer staircase leading directly to the main cabin.
White House doctor O ‘Connor said that most of Biden’s stiffness problems are the result of "wear" of spinal bones and changes in arthritis, adding that Biden’s spinal arthritis is currently in a moderate to severe situation, which has "not worsened" since last year, and "has not reached the point where nerve roots are severely compressed and need special treatment".
O ‘Connor also introduced in detail Biden’s other diseases, including atrial fibrillation (an arrhythmia), sensory neuropathy in the foot, seasonal allergy and acid reflux. This also explains the public’s doubts about Biden’s physical condition from the side.
For example, Biden used to clear his throat frequently when he spoke in public, and doctors explained that part of the problem was gastric acid reflux.
Although the medical report seems to respond to the public’s concerns, Biden’s age is still a problem on his way to re-election. As the 2024 US presidential election progresses, both the 81-year-old incumbent President Biden and the 77-year-old former President Trump attack each other’s cognitive ability in the campaign, while another Republican candidate, Nicky Haley, calls on them to take a cognitive test, saying that they are both too old to be presidents.
According to a poll conducted by NBC News in January, three quarters of American voters (including half of Democrats) expressed concern about Biden’s age. At the same time, less than half of voters are worried about Trump’s age.
Text | Reporter Leng Shuang
Figure | Xinhua News Agency, social media
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