Kamala Harris plays the age and health card

(Washington) The White House published a medical report on Saturday concluding that Kamala Harris, at 59, has “the physical and mental strength necessary to fulfill the duties of the presidency” of the United States, in a desire to shine the spotlight on the almost 20 years of age gap with his rival Donald Trump.

The extremely detailed report was published “with the agreement” of the Democratic candidate for the November 5 presidential election, who hopes to fuel a debate on the ex-president’s abilities.

According to her doctor, the vice-president’s last medical examination dated April did not report anything “out of the ordinary” and she enjoys “excellent health”.

Donald Trump’s campaign team reacted by affirming that the form of the Republican candidate had nothing to envy of that of the Democrat and, on the contrary, the latter had been “unable to keep pace with the demands of an electoral campaign.

Questions about Joe Biden’s age, toughness and mental acuity dominated his campaign, until the 81-year-old Democratic president threw in the towel in July after a disastrous debate against his Republican predecessor in the White House (2017-2021).

The issue has since rarely been discussed in the media and has had no notable influence on the polls, which are still close, despite the strong age difference between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and the ever more pronounced trend of the latter with digressions and disjointed speeches.

” Confused ”

The vice-president would therefore like to bring the subject up to date, to her advantage.

His campaign team carefully read recent articles from New York Times.

One points out that the billionaire, already widely criticized by his adversaries for not having been transparent about his health when he was president, has not published a recent medical report.

The other article in the American daily analyzes his recent speeches, concluding that they are always “longer”, “confused”, “vulgar” and “obsessed with the past”.

Over the past year, Donald Trump has mixed up the names of several cities and leaders, warned that the world is heading toward a second, not third, World War, and launched into numerous tirades about obscure.

In response to the publication of Kamala Harris’ health check, Steven Cheung, communications director for Donald Trump’s campaign, accused the Democrat of having a “much lighter” campaign schedule than that of the Republican, because claims – he, she does not have “the stamina of President Trump”.

The spokesperson indicates that the Republican candidate has already voluntarily published several doctors’ reports which “all conclude that Donald Trump is in perfect and excellent health” to be president, and refers to three letters on this subject.

Physical presence

Two of these letters were written in July by Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson, Donald Trump’s former doctor at the White House, who claims to have examined him in the wake of the assassination attempt against the former president in Pennsylvania.

The last, dated November 2023, comes from Donald Trump’s personal doctor indicating that his physical exams were normal and his cognitive exams “exceptional”.

The former president, with an undeniable physical presence, has a very sustained pace of travel and rallies. But he does not show fatigue comparable to that which often marked the gait, features and speech of Joe Biden.

And according to polls, his age is not an important issue for a large portion of voters.

A Gallup opinion poll published on October 10 indicates that 41% of voters consider the Republican too old to be president. The percentage hasn’t changed much since Kamala Harris entered the race.

According to Gallup, in June, 37% said the same thing, while two-thirds of Americans then believed that Joe Biden was too old to stay in the White House.