President Joe Biden joked on Wednesday that doctors told him he looked “too young” after he underwent an annual physical earlier in the morning.
Biden, 81, cracked the joke amid speculation about what doctors could have discovered while evaluating him earlier that morning as questions mount as to whether he is mentally or physically fit to serve another term in the White House.
While he spoke to reporters, he was asked about his physical and what his doctors had to say.
“They think I look too young,” he said.
Joe Biden on possible health concerns following his annual physical: “They think I look too young!”pic.twitter.com/gYvHrcTOem
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 28, 2024
Biden added “Everything’s great” regarding his health and concluded, “There is nothing different than last year.”
According to NBC News, Biden underwent a routine physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland and was pronounced “fit for duty.”
White House physician Kevin C. O’Connor wrote in a summary of the exam that Biden “fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations.”
Is Biden mentally fit to be president?
Yes: 0% (0 Votes)
No: 100% (3 Votes)
As The New York Post noted, Biden did not alert the public of the doctor’s visit ahead of time and the appointment was not on his schedule.
The visit was only learned about Wednesday morning when Biden was departing the White House and shouted at reporters.
“I’m going to Walter Reed to get my physical,” he said.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about Biden’s physical during her daily media briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
She was evasive when pressed on the matter of Biden’s health and whether he should take a cognitive test, NBC News reported.
When asked why Biden was not making his personal physician available to the media, Jean-Pierre referred to his brief comments on the visit to Walter Reed.
COVERUP? Karine Jean-Pierre claims they’re “trying to get back to the norm” by preventing Biden’s physician from briefing the press on Biden’s physical and cognitive health pic.twitter.com/75RIHcCb64
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 28, 2024
“The president said that they thought that he was too young,” she said. “You heard from the president, he talked about this when he was asked.”
Biden’s age and fitness have been the source of questions for years.
The president’s health finally received widespread media coverage last month, when Justice Department special counsel Robert Hur said he did not charge Biden in his classified documents case because of his age and mental state.
A report from Hur stated Biden had severe memory issues when interviewed and that had he been charged and tried for mishandling sensitive information, sympathetic jurors might have viewed him as a forgetful old man.
