Joe Biden’s physician said in a new interview that the former vice president has shown no mental deficits since suffering two brain aneurysms in 1988, challenging concerns surrounding the Democratic White House hopeful’s mental fitness.
“Vice President Biden is in excellent physical condition,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor told Politico in a statement. “He is more than capable of handling the rigors of the campaign and the office for which he is running.”
The aneurysms were fully treated, Dr. Neal Kassell, who performed the surgery, told Politico, adding that Biden, now 76, showed no change and no damage in the years afterward.
“He is every bit as sharp as he was 31 years ago. I haven’t seen any change,” Kassell said. “I can tell you with absolute certainty that he had no brain damage, either from the hemorrhage or from the operations that he had. There was no damage whatsoever.”{mosads}
Kassell added that he is “going to vote for the candidate who I am absolutely certain has a brain that is functioning.”
“And that narrows it down exactly to one,” he said.
Biden has faced skepticism and criticism over his performance in the first round of Democratic primary debates, as well as limited public appearances on the campaign trail, which made some question whether he was able to keep up with his younger competitors.
But after a stronger second debate performance, Democratic lawmakers have since said they feel better about Biden as their party’s White House front-runner, despite lingering questions about his age.
The former vice president is one of a group of older 2020 presidential candidates including 77-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), 70-year-old Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, a 74-year-old Republican.
President Trump, who has mocked Biden for “not playing with a full deck” and has nicknamed the former vice president “Sleepy Joe,” is 73 years old.