Democratic 2020 candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders again tried to dismiss questions about his physical fitness for office during Wednesday night’s presidential debate, but the issue isn’t likely to go away anytime soon.
The Vermont senator largely dodged the question when moderators for the Las Vegas debate asked why he has reneged on his promise to release his full medical records.
“You’ve released three letters from your doctors, but you now say you won’t release anything more. What happened to your promise of full transparency?” MSNBC anchor Hallie Jackson asked Sanders.
Sanders only replied that he has released his “medical history” and tiptoed around the subject of his actual medical records.
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Sanders pledged to release his full medical records after suffering a heart attack in October. But he hasn’t followed through on that promise and has repeatedly avoided giving a straightforward explanation for the reversal.
He similarly skirted around the question of releasing his medical records when MSNBC host Chuck Todd asked about them in a Feb. 10 interview.
Sanders told Todd in the interview that “you can start releasing medical records and it never ends. We have released a substantial part of all of our medical records, we have doctors, cardiologists who are confirming I am in good health. I am in good health.”
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The democratic socialist is likely to continue facing questions about his hesitance to release his medical records, given his age and the pattern of criticisms from his opponents. Democratic Majority for Israel, an outside group that opposes Sanders, has brought up the health issue in two separate attack ads so far.
Sanders currently leads in Democratic primary polls across the country. The two most likely outcomes in the primary, according to the polling website FiveThirtyEight, are either a contested convention or a Sanders win outright.
If Sanders wins the nomination, it’s doubtful he’ll get a pass on the health issue from President Donald Trump, who has already taken shots at former Vice President Joe Biden’s mental acuity this campaign cycle. (RELATED: Bernie Rally Features Trotskyist Seattle Council Member Whose Party Wants To Seize Control Of Banks)
Sanders would become the oldest elected president in American history if he were to win the general election.
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