Kamala Harris in ‘excellent health’ as she challenges Trump to prove the same

The Republican presidential nominee has refused to publish medical test results as Democrats attempt to paint him as too old for office

Kamala Harris released details of a medical examination that showed her in “excellent health” as she put pressure on Donald Trump to do the same.
The Republican presidential nominee has refused to publish medical test results as Democrats attempt to paint the him as old and unfit for office in an extraordinary reversal of fortunes.
Trump has insisted that his medical team have found him in “perfect and excellent health”.
His campaign said he had an “extremely busy and active campaign schedule” and claimed Ms Harris “does not have the stamina” of her rival.
Polls remain tightly locked, with both candidates vying for votes in some seven swing states that could decide the election.
In the detailed report, Mr Simmons noted that Ms Harris suffers from seasonal allergies and hives but described her latest physical exam, conducted in April, as “unremarkable”.
The health of the presidential candidates was brought into focus by a series of gaffes by Joe Biden, the US president, including his disastrous debate performance against Trump in June.
Questions were asked about Mr Biden’s mental sharpness, eventually forcing him to pull out of the race and endorse Ms Harris.
When Trump, the oldest person to become a presidential nominee, was shot in July, his campaign did not release hospital records, nor did they when he was hospitalised with Covid-19 in 2020.
The vice-president leads her opponent nationally by 48 per cent to 46 per cent, according to the Telegraph’s poll. It also had Ms Harris on the same number and Trump down at 44 per cent on Sept 12.
But analysts believe the election will be decided in a handful of states, including Pennsylvania, where Ms Harris leads Trump by four points.
Trump leads Ms Harris in Arizona, another swing state, by six points, according to a New York Times poll.
The candidates are tied on 49 per cent in Michigan, another key state where its Democratic governor was forced to apologise after posting a video which was seen as mocking the Holy Communion.
Gretchen Whitmer posted the video in an attempt to promote one of Mr Biden’s flagship achievements, the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act which invested nearly $53 billion (£40.5 billion) to boost the semiconductor industry in the US.
But her attempt at humour backfired spectacularly in a pivotal state where Catholics account for 18 per cent of the population.
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, rounded on Ms Whitmer, who had been seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party.
“Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer insulted Catholics nationwide when she intentionally ridiculed the Eucharist in a video,” Mr Donohue said.
“There is no way to understand this stunt other than as an expression of vintage anti-Catholic bigotry. Whitmer’s team, and her allies in the media, are trying to distort what she did.
“There are indeed many clips of people feeding each other on social media, but there is no reference to the CHIPS Act, nor are they eating chips. The typical video on TikTok shows one person sitting at a table, often in a restaurant, being fed –usually with a fork or spoon – by a friend,” he added.
“None of them are kneeling. None of them are receiving food on the tongue.
“What Whitmer did was to deride Holy Communion. There is no wiggle room for her to deny the obvious.”
Embarrassed by the backlash, a chastened Ms Whitmer said: “Over 25 years in public service, I would never do something to denigrate someone’s faith. I’ve used my platform to stand up for people’s right to hold and practise their personal religious beliefs.”
Offending Catholic voters could prove costly to the Harris campaign, especially after she decided to skip one of the Church’s blue ribbon events, the Al Smith Dinner.
 Timothy Dolan, the New York cardinal, observed that the last presidential candidate to miss the event was Walter Mondale in 1984 who lost 49 out of 50 states to Ronald Reagan.
Trump won Michigan in 2016, but the state flipped to Mr Biden in 2020 as the Democrats captured a raft of rust belt states.