Harris releases medical report, drawing contrast with Trump

Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, released a letter from her doctor on Saturday that pronounced her in good health and fit for high office, in an effort to draw a contrast with her counterpart, Donald Trump.
In a memo distributed by the White House, the vice-president’s physician, Joshua Simmons, said that Harris’s most recent physical exam in April was “unremarkable”, that she maintains an active lifestyle and “very healthy diet” despite a busy schedule, suffers from seasonal allergies and sporadic hives, does not use tobacco and drinks alcohol only in moderation.
“She possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,” the doctor wrote.
Harris, 59, is running against Republican Trump, 78, for the White House.
She made her medical information public on Saturday in an effort to draw attention to his refusal to do so, according to a Harris aide.
The Harris campaign is eager to highlight the former president’s age since he became the oldest candidate in the race after President Joe Biden, 81, stepped aside as the Democratic standard bearer following a poor debate performance against Trump.
Harris’s campaign hopes that contrasting her comparative youth and mental acuity with Trump’s more advanced age and tendency to meander, along with the differences in transparency between the two, will help convince undecided voters that she is more fit for office than he.
A few hours later, Harris spokesman Ian Sams challenged Trump directly to release his medical records, asking, “What’s he hiding?”
The former president’s campaign pushed back hard.
It issued a statement saying that he was also “in perfect and excellent health to be Commander in Chief” and charged that Harris lacked his strength to lead the country.
A journalist asked Trump in August whether he would release his medical records and he replied: “Oh sure, I would do that very gladly, sure.”
He has not released any detailed medical records since then.
A White House doctor said in 2018 when Trump was in office that he was in overall excellent health then but needed to shed weight and start a daily exercise routine.
Simmons said Harris’s allergies had been well-managed with over-the-counter and prescription medications.
Her urticaria or hives were “sporadic and transient and do not seem to be triggered by any particular exposure nor are they associated with other symptoms” and respond well to antihistamine treatment.
Harris has been on allergen immunotherapy for the last three years, dramatically improving her allergy and urticaria symptoms and negating her need for medication other than occasional nasal spray, he said.
Harris wears contact lenses. Her family history includes her mother’s colon cancer.
She was up to date on preventative health procedures including colonoscopy and annual mammograms, he said.
On Saturday Trump’s campaign republished statements from his former White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, that were released following the July assassination attempt on Trump in which a bullet grazed his right ear.
In the statement dated July 26, Jackson, who is now a Republican congressman from Texas, said Trump was doing “extremely well” and “rapidly recovering” from the wound.
Trump’s campaign also re-upped a note from another doctor who examined Trump in September 2023. In the note, Bruce Aronwald declared him to be in “excellent” health but provided few details and did not say what tests Trump had undergone.