Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump released a short letter from his doctor to the television host Dr. Mehmet Oz on Wednesday in an interview set to air Thursday.
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But earlier Wednesday, the campaign said the information would not be released during taping for “The Dr. Oz Show” and would instead be released “soon”, NBC’s Katy Tur reported. But a release from the show said that “Dr. Oz took Mr. Trump though a full review of his systems” including his nervous system, cardiovascular health, prostate health and family medical history.
During the taping, the businessman also told Dr. Oz that he wants to lose approximately 15 pounds, an audience member told CNN.
Rival Hillary Clinton has criticized Trump for failing to share much about his medical records while calling for her own. She is expected to return to the campaign trail on Thursday.
Bornstein wrote in that letter, “Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the president”.
“I guess I wouldn’t be talking to you right now if they were bad”, Trump said in a phone interview on Fox News.
But Trump’s well-timed appearance on “The Dr. Oz Show,” beloved by local stations for its “tremendous multiplatform sales and marketing opportunities”, blew the Clinton campaign’s continuing mop-up job out of the water with the kind of sheer spectacle Trump builds professionally.
Over many months, Trump has sought to raise questions about the health of Clinton, 68, and his supporters have asserted that she is hiding something about her health (her aides have denied this). That day concluded with Clinton’s personal physician Dr. Bardack issuing a sparse statement about diagnosing pneumonia 48 hours prior.
Oz told Kilmeade that he wanted to keep the TV segment focused on Trump and Trump’s policies – “we’re not going to be talking about Secretary Clinton, for sure”, he said.
At one point, Dr. Oz did try to pin Trump down on whether he would authorize medical treatment for an undocumented alien, and the candidate skated away, claiming that no such person could exist in this nation in the event of a Trump presidency. Trump, 70, takes a cholesterol-lowering drug and aspirin daily to reduce his heart risk, and doesn’t smoke or drink, Bornstein said.
The letter from Trump’s long-time doctor, Harold N. Bornstein, lists Trump’s weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and other numbers.
Earlier this year, Bornstein drew attention for writing that Trump would be the healthiest president in history.
The visit to Flint, where most residents are African-American, comes as Trump has increased his outreach to minorities.
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The report was published Thursday morning to the campaign’s website, but a press release accompanying the report was briefly removed.
