At 78-years-old, presidential front-runner Bernie Sanders is currently one year older than Ronald Reagan, our oldest president ever, was on his last day in the White House. Not only would Sanders be a decade older than Reagan on Inauguration Day, but the septuagenarian socialist had a heart attack just four months ago.
Yet, Sanders refuses to release his medical records. When asked over the weekend by NBC’s Chuck Todd about his health, the Vermont senator claimed he “released as much documentation … as any other candidate.” Todd pushed back, noting that no other candidate had a heart attack late last year.
“I mean, you can start releasing medical records and it never ends,” Sanders responded. “We’ve released a substantive part — all of our background. We have doctors who have cardiologists confirming that I am in good health. I am in good health.”
In the immediate aftermath of his heart attack, it was more than fine for Sanders to want a few days to recover and sit on the news before submitting it to the public domain. But that grace period expired months ago. He’s long overdue to disclose unredacted versions of his medical records, especially as it pertains to his ejection fraction, a measure of the pumping efficiency of his heart.
If Sanders’s heart muscle was permanently damaged after the heart attack, his records will indicate heart failure. And the public deserves to know what type of medical risks would be involved with having him as president.
Sanders’s unwillingness to disclose his health records is made even more galling considering the Democratic Party’s obsession with President Trump’s medical records for the past four years. Trump may be equally and unfortunately evasive, but he hasn’t just had a heart attack, either. For an even more stark comparison, just consider the media meltdown over John McCain’s age and health in 2008 — and that was when he was a half decade younger than Sanders is now.
If Sanders doesn’t want public demands for health records to “never end,” he can simply end them now. Either release them with full transparency or drop out of the race.
