Harris releases health update, challenges Trump to do the same

Democratic White House candidate Kamala Harris is in ‘excellent health’ and has challenged Donald Trump to publish his health records.

Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in California. Picture: AFP

Democratic White House candidate Kamala Harris is in “excellent health” and fit for the presidency, according to a medical report published by the White House at the weekend, as she challenged rival Donald Trump to publish his own health records.

“Vice-President Harris remains in excellent health,” her doctor, Joshua Simmons, said in the report released on Saturday (Sunday AEST), adding that she “possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency”.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a trip to North Carolina, Ms Harris called Mr Trump’s unwillingness to publish his records “a further example of his lack of transparency”. “It’s obvious that his team, at least, does not want the American people to see everything about who he is … and whether or not he is actually fit to do the job of being president of the United States,” she said.

But as Ms Harris ramped up pressure for details on the physical health and mental acuity of 78-year-old Mr Trump, his campaign pushed back.

The Republican candidate is also “in perfect and excellent health to be commander in chief”, it said in a statement, and charged that Ms Harris lacked his strength to lead the country.

Ms Harris’s most recent physical exam, in April, was “unremarkable,” according to Dr Simmons. In the detailed report, he noted that Ms Harris suffers from seasonal allergies and hives, which are managed by non-prescription and prescription medications. The Vice-President is also slightly near-sighted and wears contact lenses, his report said.

Mr Trump became the oldest presidential nominee from a major political party in US history after 81-year-old President Joe Biden withdrew from the White House race in July. Ms Harris is 59.

Mr Biden passed the torch to Ms Harris after a disastrous debate against Mr Trump raised concerns in the Democratic Party about his own mental sharpness.

But Mr Trump’s age has not appeared to be a deal-breaker for voters, as polls show a knife-edge battle with Ms Harris in the lead-up to November 5 election.

Ms Harris’s campaign drew attention to a recent series of articles in The New York Times that raised concerns about Mr Trump’s failure to disclose basic information about his health.

The newspaper has also published an analysis of Mr Trump’s language showing his speeches are increasingly long and “confused”, and include vulgarities – a trend seen by experts as a possible sign of cognitive decline.

Mr Trump has continued to insist he is fit for office, and on Saturday his campaign republished statements from his former White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, that were released following the July assassination attempt on the candidate in which a bullet grazed his right ear. In the statement dated July 26, Dr Jackson, now a Republican congressman from Texas, said Mr Trump was doing “extremely well” and “rapidly recovering” from the wound.

AFP