Biden’s health has been a concern since his unsuccessful 2008 run at the presidency, some 20 years after surviving two life-threatening brain aneurysms. His cognitive abilities have been on voters’ minds since he took office in January 2021.
A full physical exam during Biden’s first year in the White House found him to be “a healthy, vigorous, 78-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the president, to include those as chief executive, head of state and commander in chief,” according to personal physician Dr Kevin O’Connor. In a sixpage summary of the checkup, O’Connor chalked up Biden’s “perceptibly stiffer and less fluid” gait to mild nerve damage, and an “increasing frequency and severity of ‘throat clearing’ and coughing” to esophageal reflux.
As the year progressed, Biden’s health came under increasing scrutiny. After falling off a bicycle that June near a home he owns in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, an uninjured Biden said his foot had gotten caught on a toe clip and told the accompanying press pool, “I’m good”.
During his successful 2020 campaign, he reassured the public that he considered himself a placeholder who would restore normalcy to the Oval Office while the Democratic Party developed fresh candidates for the next election. The apparently selfless notion was also the practical way forward: a mere five in 10 registered Democrats said in an October 2022 AP-NORC poll that they wanted Biden to run for a second term.
In June 2023, Biden fell on stage after tripping over a sandbag at the US Air Force Academy graduation ceremony. A few months after that, speculation about Biden’s health intensified when, at a Manhattan campaign event, he recounted an anecdote, then repeated the same story again “nearly word for word,” according to a pool report.
Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin July 22, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin July 22, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Carse justifies England faith as the archetypal bold pick
If you won a boxing match after your opponent continually punched themselves in the face, how much credit can you take?
Tenacious Diallo the key to Amorim pressing machine
Old Trafford has not seen anything like this before.
Gold King Cole packs the Bridge with merry old souls
In the 83rd minute, the ball rolled to the feet of Cole Palmer in a bubble of space outside Aston Villa's box, and the crowd snapped to attention.
Vibrant Anfield marks the changing of the Guardiola
There was a lull in the noise, a break in the Anfield atmosphere, when a defiant chant emerged from a corner near Stefan Ortega’s goal.
What is so daunting about Spain's new data checks?
Q You have written about the new “red tape” for visitors to Spain. So, as well as your usual passport details you will give a contact number, address and email. Not exactly the Spanish Inquisition, is it?
Sectarian clashes claim at least 130 lives in Pakistan
At least 130 people were killed in deadly sectarian clashes in Pakistan's northwestern Kurram district in spite of a tentative ceasefire, days after gunmen opened fire on a convoy of vehicles carrying Shia Muslims, local officials said.
Coalition government likely in Ireland as count proceeds
Fianna Fail say decisions on power-sharing for another day’
How Syria's forgotten war is back on the world's agenda
Many believed the country was lost in an unsolvable conflict, until everything changed in a matter of days, writes Bel Trew
Assad regime scrambles to halt Syrian rebels’ advance
Civilians reportedly killed by Russian and Syrian airstrikes
Mother of poisoning victim says she knew she would die
Lawyer Simone White succumbed to the effects of methanol while backpacking in Laos with two of her childhood friends
