HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – With Election Day less than a week away, pressure is mounting for former President Donald Trump to release his medical records, proving he’s mentally and physically fit before potentially regaining the presidency.

On October 12, Vice President Kamala Harris released a note from her doctorwho claimed the vice president was in “excellent health.” That release came after Trump questioned whether Harris was fit to lead the country. In the days since, Harris has not only asked Trump to prove his health, but others, including a board of over 200 medical personnel.

Although candidates are free to release such records if they wish, there is currently no requirement.

According to the second article of the United States Constitution, there is only three requirements to run for president:

• An applicant must be a natural born US citizen.
• A candidate must be at least 35 years old.
• An applicant must have been a resident of the US for at least 14 years.

Given age and health concerns during this election cycle, since President Joe Biden was in the racesome believe that these requirements are not enough and medical exams should be required.

However, that is easier said than done. Medical records for all Americans are sealed and protected under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), with little, if any, scope for voters to request them. Although the term “medical records” is not explicitly mentioned in the FOIA, the records fall under Exceptions 6 and 7c, which prohibit the release of any records that would “invade the personal privacy of another person.”

However, given the global importance of the president of the United States, Alan Gernhardt, executive director of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council, said there could be a gray area.

“You want to know that they’re going to be able, especially mentally and physically, to perform their duties,” Gernhardt said.

Even though health has been a hot topic this election cycle, Dr. Ben Blankenship, an assistant professor of psychology at James Madison University, wonders how much voters care about the candidates’ health.

Blankenship pointed back to the 2020 election when concerns about Biden’s age began. He also looked at data from the administrations of former presidents Ronald Reagan, Franklin Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower, as each president dealt with different serious health problems during their time in office.

Blankenship said there is no data to show whether those concerns swayed voters one way or the other or played a role in public trust in government. Instead, he said, the interest has more to do with political polarization and a desire for transparency.

“Instead of being a problem in itself, it seems like it’s a tool to hang on to when you’re attacking the other candidate,” Blankenship said. “Transparency usually supports trust in government—public trust… For example, Eisenhower had a pretty significant health scare with a heart attack, but after these revelations came out, trust in government quickly returned, because people were comforted by the transparency.”

Blankenship acknowledges, however, that the lack of data on trust affecting health is partly due to the lack of media access the candidates had.

“It was easier for politicians to hide their diagnoses, to hide how their health was affected, with social media not yet in play, with the big media infrastructure not in play” , Blankenship said.

Both Blankenship and Gernhardt agree that adding the medical requirement is possible and could be helpful. Gernhardt likened it to “Declaration of economic interests requirement of candidature” in Virginia Code.

In Virginia, tax records, like medical records, cannot be released. However, there is an exception for candidates running for office. Gernhardt said the exception was created to make sure candidates don’t use the finances to influence or win votes.

When it comes to implementing a medical record requirement, Blankenship said it would be a complicated task and some big questions would need to be answered.

“How do we weigh each person’s right to privacy against this need of the American people for this transparency?” he asked. “Who would take this exam? Obviously, there would need to be a trusted third party that would conduct such an examination. If he was the own doctor of the candidates we supported, that would get politicized very quickly. And finally, if such a policy should be enforced, I think it should be enforced across the board. If that was going to happen, it should happen regardless of whether the politician in question is 50 years old and looks healthy, or whether the person is 70 years old and those concerns can be a problem.”

Even if those questions were reasonably answered, Blankenship said timing would be of the essence.

“Going forward, when we have two candidates … who seem quite healthy and seem like we wouldn’t normally have those concerns, it would be a good time to reflect on this period and think that this was something that we -we were concerned, maybe we should create this new norm or create this new set of requirements and put these candidates where they wouldn’t stand to hurt or benefit one more than the other,’” Blankenship said.

When asked if he thinks people will push for a medical requirement in the wake of this election, Blankenship said he doesn’t think so, saying the only reason he thinks the issue is important is that it can be used by one side as a tactic to to attack the other.

Although Trump has yet to release a full doctor’s report, Trump’s campaign said he was healthy and able to perform the duties of the President.

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