Joe Biden has a long history of medical issues. Some of them were life-threatening. Some less serious.
As the current commander in chief, Biden’s health has become a paramount issue of global interest and concern. Much of that concern has focused on the obvious mental and physical challenges the nearly 80-year-old has displayed numerous times both at home and abroad.
These include chronic irascibility, falling on the steps of Air Force One, shaking hands with people who are not there, becoming lost while exiting a stage, frequently forgetting names and losing his train of thought, and accidentally displaying staff notes for meetings reminding him to say hello and sit down. All of which have sparked talk of the 25th Amendment.
And in 1988, Biden had two brain surgeries for life-threatening aneurysms.
Most recently, the president of the United States had multiple bouts of positive COVID tests, which aides said prompted isolation within the White House and minimal contacts with staff. This despite Biden’s multiple vaccinations and ostentatious but notably sporadic mask use.
Today, the White House said Jill Biden had tested positive in South Carolina while on the large family’s latest vacation together at a donor’s mansion. She is staying in isolation at a private residence in South Carolina, the statement claimed, until she has two consecutive negative tests.
Even when Biden tried to show his physical capabilities in recent weeks by riding a bicycle, he fell. He blamed that on the bike pedal.
During another bike-riding display on a previous vacation, the president was photographed talking with spectators. But a closer examination of one photo reveals what appears to be a rather unusual and sizeable growth on the left side of the president’s neck.
Medical doctors we talked with, none of whom have ever examined Biden, said any of their own patients displaying such a growth would require questioning and closer examination. How long has he had this lump? Does it ever hurt or become sensitive? Has it changed size or color?
And they would be likely to order a biopsy to determine its precise nature.
The issue of a president’s health is always of keen interest given concern over national security and line of succession. It is especially so with Biden, who is the oldest president in history. He turns 80 in November.
His hand-picked vice-presidential partner and presidential successor is Kamala Harris, who turns 58 this fall.
The selection of the California senator does not seem to have been made based on intellect, strategic thinking, political skills, or speaking ability. Or even on the electoral appeal of her home state, which has consistently voted Democrat in recent decades.
Her propensity for gaffes, staff turnover, and word salads is impressive, though not yet on the level of Biden.
The next person in the line of presidential succession to lead the nation is another Democrat, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is 82.
Whatever Joe Biden’s neck lump is, it has not affected his executive workload, which is always light anyway.