Biden gets annual physical as questions about his mental acuity swirl

WASHINGTON — President Biden reported to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Thursday morning for his annual physical — though the exam is not expected to evaluate the oldest-ever chief executive’s mental acuity.

Biden, 80, did not take reporter questions as he departed the White House or when he arrived at the facility in Maryland — continuing his nearly week-long avoidance of inquiries about his orders to shoot down three unidentified flying objects that officials now believe were likely “benign.”

The presidential physical is expected to last hours and Biden’s physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor will release a typed report shortly afterward.

The White House has never allowed O’Connor to take reporter questions — drawing condemnation from leaders of the press corps, especially when the doctor was not permitted to answer questions about Biden’s treatment for COVID-19 in July.

Dr. Ronny Jackson, who was the physician to former Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama, answered press questions for nearly an hour about Trump’s physical in 2018 — though Jackson, now a Republican Texas congressman, shocked listeners by claiming at one point that Trump might live to be “200 years old” if he had a better diet.

“Last time it was a press release that had very little information in it. And the physician to the president, Kevin O’Connor, owes it to the country to step up to the plate right now and stand up before the press and answer all the hard questions,” Jackson told The Post last week. “I had to defend all the information in the physical. That’s not happening anymore.”

“The objective data is not going to be good. They don’t want to get picked apart because it’s not going to be good,” Jackson went on. “They are going to be asked, ‘Did he get a cognitive exam done?’ The answer is going to be no because either they’re not going to do a cognitive exam or they’re going to do one and not let the American people know what the results were.”

Dr. David Scheiner, Obama’s longtime former personal physician, told the Washington Examiner that he also believes the White House will conceal information about Biden’s health.

“You’re not going to learn anything. They sugarcoat these things,” Scheiner told the Examiner.

“It worries me that he is aging. If I look at him, he’s not a young 80,” added Scheiner, noting that Biden, who is preparing to launch a re-election campaign, would be 86 if he completes a full second term.

Biden’s mental acuity came into intense focus when he asked “Where’s Jackie?” and searched for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) in September, despite publicly mourning her death and even calling her family to offer his condolences in August.

Biden has publicly referred to his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the “president” at least six times and this month welcomed former President Bill Clinton back to “Congress” while delivering remarks at the White House.

Biden also has been caught sharing a spate of false or unverifiable personal anecdotes.

In December, Biden claimed that his uncle Frank Biden won the Purple Heart for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II — but there’s no evidence of the award and key details make the president’s story factually impossible.

In October, Biden said firefighters nearly died extinguishing a blaze in his kitchen in 2004, prompting the local fire department to describe the event as relatively “insignificant” for trained professionals.

In May, Biden said at the Naval Academy’s graduation ceremony that he was appointed to the military school in 1965 by the late Sen. J. Caleb Boggs (R-Del.). A search of Boggs’ archives failed to turn up evidence of the appointment. 

Biden’s most recent physical was in November 2021 and featured a colonoscopy using anesthesia that required Biden to hand over presidential powers to Harris for 85 minutes.

O’Connor released a six-page report after that exam giving Biden a relatively clean bill of health.

The White House physician wrote that he investigated Biden’s “perceptibly stiffer” gait and his “increasing frequency and severity of ‘throat clearing’ and coughing during speaking engagements,” but found nothing of concern.

“A combination of significant spinal arthritis, post-fracture ‘limp and compensation’ and a mild sensory peripheral neuropathy of the feet are the explanation for the subtle gait changes which I was investigating,” O’Connor wrote.

A foot fracture that Biden said occurred after tugging his then-dog Major’s tail after a shower in late 2020 had “healed nicely,” according to that report.