By CBS (Health) | Created at 2024-10-29 21:40:29 | Updated at 2024-10-30 07:26:47
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Washington — Vice President Kamala Harris has increasingly questioned former President Donald Trump's ability to handle the demands of another four years in the White House as she seeks to contrast her age with Trump's.
"I'm seeing that his team at least is saying he's suffering from exhaustion," Harris, who turns 60 on Sunday, told reporters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Friday.
Harris was citing a Politico report that said several Trump interviews that were in the works had failed to come to fruition because the 78-year-old Republican nominee was "exhausted." A Trump campaign spokesperson told Politico that was "unequivocally false."
"Look, being president of the United States is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world. And so we really do need to ask, if he's exhausted being on the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job? And I think that's an open-ended question and we need an answer," Harris said.
Harris said it's a "legitimate question," adding, "it should be a concern if he can't handle the rigors of the campaign trail."
Trump has yet to release his recent medical records, claiming Friday, "you've got them all."
His campaign has said he's in "perfect and excellent health" to be president. In November 2023, Trump shared a letter from his doctor of osteopathic medicine that said he had been examined in September 2023 and that his "overall health is excellent." The letter did not give specifics on his vitals or medications.
"I've done five exams over the last four years," Trump told CBS News as he campaigned in Michigan.
When pressed on whether he had actually released all of his medical records, Trump called on Harris to take a cognitive test.
"Obviously, I'm in the middle of a very big and very contentious fight we're leading," he said. "I've given my health exams. I've also done cognitive tests twice, and I've aced them, meaning a perfect score. I want to see her do a cognitive test because she couldn't, because she wasn't born smart."
Trump also said he's "gone 48 days now without a rest," adding, "I'm not even tired, I'm really exhilarated."
If elected in November, Trump would be the oldest person to ever assume the Oval Office.
Harris released a letter from her doctor last week that said she is in "excellent health" and "possesses the physical and mental resiliency" required to serve as president. Her physician, Dr. Joshua Simmons, said Harris' latest blood work and other test results were "unremarkable," and that she has no personal history of high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiac disease, neurological disorders or other serious conditions. He noted that she has a history of allergies and urticaria, also known as hives, for which she has been on allergen immunotherapy for the past three years.
In a recent letter, more than 230 doctors, nurses and health care professionals, most of whom are backing Harris, called on Trump to release his health records, arguing he was "displaying alarming characteristics of declining acuity." Absent detailed records, the letter said, "we are left to extrapolate from public appearances."
Caitlin Huey-Burns and Nidia Cavazos contributed to this report.
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
