Joe Biden resumed his presidential duties on Friday, which he had transferred for a medical examination to Kamala Harris, who briefly became the first woman to exercise presidential power in the United States.
“My check-up went very well,” he told the press as he left the Walter Reed hospital at around 2:05 pm local, on the outskirts of Washington.
Arriving a little later at the White House the president, smiling, said: “I feel good. “
Joe Biden, who turns 79 on Saturday, underwent a “routine” colonoscopy under anesthesia.
He had transferred his prerogatives to Vice President Kamala Harris at 3:10 p.m. GMT (10:10 a.m. Washington time), under the conditions provided for by the US Constitution. Then took the reins “at around 11:35 this morning (4:35 p.m. GMT),” according to the White House.
Or a historical interlude, one hour and twenty-five minutes, during which a woman was at the head of the first world power.
On Friday, the president’s schedule called for him to pardon two turkeys for Thanksgiving in accordance with tradition, before leaving for the weekend.
The news promised to be dominated by a Congress vote on a major social spending project before a terse statement from the White House spokeswoman fell at 6 a.m.
” Routine “
“Later in the morning the president will go to Walter Reed Medical Center for his routine annual checkup,” wrote Jen Psaki.
A little later, the White House specified that the president was going to “undergo a routine colonoscopy” in this hospital very close to Washington.
This examination, intended to identify abnormalities in the colon, is part of the President’s first health check-up.
A detailed summary of this medical visit will be published in the afternoon, Washington time, the US executive said.
The White House also recalled that this transfer of power had already taken place “when President George W. Bush underwent the same intervention in 2002 and 2007”.
Former Donald Trump spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham implied in a recent book that the Republican billionaire also had a colonoscopy during his tenure, but kept the procedure a secret.
Joe Biden relied more specifically on the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution. This text provides that when the president is not “fit” to exercise his functions, he transfers his “powers and duties” to the vice-president, who exercises them until the tenant of the White House indicates that he is able to assume them again.
Transparency
Mr Biden, who does not smoke or drink, is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and received his third dose at the end of September.
The oldest president in the history of the United States, he has made it known publicly that he intends to run for re-election in 2024.
His age, however, is fueling speculation that he might give up.
This medical examination was eagerly awaited by the American press.
Joe Biden has promised the greatest transparency about his state of health, while some supporters of Donald Trump do not lose any opportunity to question publicly, in a more or less roundabout way, about his physical health and his lucidity.
The Democrat had been declared “in good health” and “vigorous” by his doctor at the end of 2019, when he was a candidate for the primary of his party.
However, he experienced a serious health alert in 1988. Urgently transported to hospital after a ruptured aneurysm, a priest had been called to give him the last rites.
If Joe Biden did not stand for re-election, Kamala Harris, 57, would be seen as a natural candidate for the Democratic camp, although so far most observers have a mixed record of her tenure as vice president.