The Democrat candidates took part in a town hall event in Last Vegas last night hosted by CNN in which Bernie Sanders, a candidate lauded by supporters for his supposed consistency, backtracked on a promise he made just last October to release his full medical records.
As National Review reported: Sanders backtracked on his previous pledge to release his medical records “before the first votes are cast,” a promise he made before [and after] suffering a heart attack in October. “I don’t. I don’t think we will, no,” Sanders responded when host Anderson Cooper asked whether he plans to release more medical records. “I think we have released a detailed report and I’m comfortable with what we have done,” the Vermont senator said. “If you think I’m not in good health, come on out with me on the campaign trail and I’ll let you introduce me to the three or four rallies a day that we do, how’s that?”
Sanders, at 78 the oldest 2020 Democrat, suffered a heart attack in early October, with tests finding a “blockage in one artery,” and receded from the campaign trail for over a week as he recovered. Following the incident, Sanders vowed to release his medical records. “It’s the right thing to do,” Sanders said told NBC’s Chuck Todd in November when asked if he would release his medical records. “The American people have a right to know whether the person they’re going to be voting for for president is healthy.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had a heart attack last year, tells @andersoncooper that he doesn’t think he will release any more medical records than he already has. #cnntownhall https://t.co/DcVxz2JQLM pic.twitter.com/mObVIbJHFO
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) February 19, 2020
If Sanders became president (which he will not), he would be 79 years old upon taking office, the oldest in U.S. history. Based off of the Social Security actuarial life tables, Sanders would have a nearly one in four chance of dying during his first term, assuming his health is on par with the average person his age. Of course, we don’t know how his health ranks against others his age due to his refusal to release additional records.
At the end of last year the Sanders campaign released a note from his doctor stating that the candidate had experienced “modest heart damage,” but that his heart function is now stable. So the campaign has no problem releasing health information when its positive.
To defend Sanders’ comments last night, his campaign’s national press secretary appeared on CNN this morning to blast the calls for his health records as part of a “smear campaign.”
A smear campaign that could be quashed if only he’d release his medical records.
So why won’t he?
