It’s a detail that’s gone largely overlooked: if this year goes his way, Donald Trump would be the oldest president ever elected in American history. In 1981, Ronald Reagan was just days shy of his 70th birthday when he was inaugurated, but Trump became a septuagenarian earlier this summer.
Of course, given that Hillary Clinton is only a couple of years younger than the Republican nominee, few have been inclined to make much of a fuss about this issue. It came as something of a surprise, then, to see Ben Carson on MSNBC this morning, using the e-word.
Both “elderly” major party candidates for President should publicly release their full medical histories, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson said on Wednesday morning.“I think that somebody who is running for President of the United States, particularly if they’re elderly, and that would include both candidates, should disclose their medical history,” Carson, a surrogate for Trump’s campaign, said. Trump is 70 years old and Hillary Clinton is 68.
Carson is quite the campaign surrogate, isn’t he?
For the record, the Clinton campaign released a two-page letter last summer from Dr. Lisa Bardack, Clinton’s personal physician for the last 15 years, summarizing the candidate’s medical history, which included “a deep vein thrombosis in 1998 and 2009, seasonal allergies, and a concussion in 2012.”
The doctor wrote, “Mrs. Clinton is a healthy female with hypothyroidism and seasonal allergies, on long-term anticoagulation. She participates in a healthy lifestyle and has had a full medical evaluation, which reveals no evidence of additional medical issues or cardiovascular disease. Her cancer screening evaluations are all negative. She is in excellent physical condition and fit to serve as President of the United States.”
Several months later, the Trump campaign released a much shorter — and unintentionally hilarious — letter from Dr. Harold Bornstein, who said he’s been Trump’s personal physician since 1980. The doctor insisted the Republican candidate’s “physical strength and stamina are extraordinary” and his recent lab tests results were “astonishingly excellent.”
Bornstein added, “If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
And who is Dr. Harold Bornstein? I’m glad you asked.
For those who can’t watch clips online, it turns out that Trump’s longtime doctor is, by training and by trade, a gastroenterologist, who identifies himself with the American College of Gastroenterology. But as it turns out, Bornstein hasn’t been affiliated with the organization in over 20 years, despite the claims on his resume.
This really is an odd year, isn’t it?
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."