Harris releases her medical report to bring new scrutiny to Trump's health and advanced age

Vice President Kamala Harris released a report Saturday detailing her health and medical history as the Harris team seeks to bring new scrutiny to former President Donald Trump's health and advanced age.

Harris “remains in excellent health,” said her doctor, Dr. Joshua Simmons, in a letter Saturday. “She possesses the physical and mental resilience necessary to successfully discharge the duties of the presidency, including those as chief executive, head of state and commander in chief.”

The doctor pointed to seasonal allergies and hives (urticaria) as a “notable” part of her medical history. He also listed a number of over-the-counter medications used to improve her symptoms, which he said were never “severe.”

Simmons details Harris' last physical exam, which took place in April 2024. He said the results were “unremarkable.” The doctor also said he found that her routine blood tests were “unremarkable” but noted that her vitamin D levels were “in the inadequate range.”

Simmons also noted that the vice president has a family history of colon cancer. He has not provided any further personal information regarding a number of medical conditions.

A senior Harris adviser said they see the release of the vice president's medical report as an opportunity to highlight how little is known about the 78-year-old Trump's health.

The most complete details known about Trump's health care come from a nearly seven-year-old report from his doctor at the time following a physical exam. That report revealed that Trump had high cholesterol, was overweight and suffered from rosacea, a benign skin disease.

Trump refused to release his medical records during his primary campaign in 2016, and although he repeatedly promised to release his medical records in this race, he has not yet done so.

In response to ABC News' requests for Trump's medical records, his campaign points to previous letters written by former White House physician Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, and Trump's personal physician, Dr. Bruce Aronwald, were published.

Jackson's letters, released in July after the attack in Butler, Pennsylvania, detail the former president's ear injury but do not address Trump's health. In one of the two letters, Jackson wrote that he had reviewed Trump's medical records from Butler Memorial Hospital and said he was recovering quickly from the injury.

Aronwald's letter, published in November last year, said he had undergone “several comprehensive examinations” and reported that his “general health was excellent,” without providing further details.

“President Trump has voluntarily provided updates from his personal physician as well as detailed reports from Dr. Ronny Jackson, who treated him after the first assassination attempt,” said Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign. “Everyone has concluded that he is in perfect and excellent health to become commander in chief.”

Cheung added that Trump “has run an extremely busy and active campaign schedule unlike any other in political history, while Kamala Harris has been unable to keep up with the demands of the campaign and reveals daily that she is running for office of the President is completely unsuitable.” United States.”

Not much was known about Harris' health prior to this new report.

Unlike President Joe Biden, whose doctor has issued memos following his routine physicals, for example, no such reports have been provided to the vice president. Only their annual examination in 2021 was announced by the White House, but the results of that visit were not made public.

The White House also previously announced that Harris tested positive for COVID-19 in April 2022, for which she was treated with the drug Paxlovid.

Prior to releasing Harris' medical report, ABC News also inquired about the records of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, as well as Harris and Trump's vice presidents, respectively.

This new move by Harris is a clear example of how political baggage has changed as we age.

Before he dropped out of the race for a second term, Biden's age was an easy battering ram for Trump and Republicans. The former president would attack his successor, America's oldest president, as “sleepy Joe,” “sick” and “weak.” But now it is Harris, who is about two decades younger than Trump, and her allies who are exploiting her opponent's age.

Walz described Trump's debate performance as “an almost 80-year-old man shaking his fist at the clouds”; Former President Bill Clinton joked during his speech at the Democratic National Convention: “Two days ago I turned 78… and the only personal vanity I'll claim is that I'm still younger than Donald Trump.”

A few hours before the vice presidential debate earlier this month, the Harris campaign launched a new ad targeting Trump, who would be the oldest president-elect if Vance defeated him.

“Not only is he strange or dangerous,” a narrator says of Vance, “he could be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.” The ad ends with clips of the former president appearing to speak slurred.

ABC News' Katherine Faulders, Soorin Kim, Isabella Murray, Hannah Demissie, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.