President Joe Biden underwent his annual physical examination Thursday after a delay from the White House.
Biden, who is the oldest president in U.S. history, arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after 9 a.m., and is expected to exit after a 3-hour evaluation.
The White House attributed the physical’s delay to Biden’s travel schedule, and the results are expected to be made public later Thursday.
The last time the president underwent an extensive physical exam was in November of 2021, after which a physician’s report said Biden “remains a healthy, vigorous, 78-year old” and is “fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.”
US President Joe Biden makes his way to board Marine One before departing from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on February 16, 2023. – President Biden will undergo a physical examination at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center this morning. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
He underwent a colonoscopy during the 2021 physical, during which Vice President Kamala Harris assumed power while he was under anesthesia. The physician remarked that Biden’s gait was “stiffer” than it was a year ago, and that he suffers from “a-fib with normal ventricular response, hyperlipidemia, gastroesophageal reflux, seasonal allergies, spinal arthritis and mild sensory peripheral neuropathy of both feet,” according to the summary.
Polls indicate that a majority of Americans are “concerned” about Biden’s mental health, and 54 House Republicans called on the president in July to take a cognitive test amid the concern. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Joe Biden Has Signs Of Dementia, Ben Carson Says In Informal Assessment)
The 2021 test did not include a mental acuity test, and the White House has not said if the physical will include one this year.
In a recent interview, Biden said he would consider his health in his decision to run in 2024.
“I would be completely, thoroughly honest with the American people if I thought there was any health problem, anything that would keep me from being able to do the job. And and, so we’ll see. But, you know, I just — I think people have to just watch me,” Biden said in an interview with PBS.