WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris plans to release a report Saturday on her medical history and health that a senior campaign aide said would show “she possesses the physical and mental resiliency” needed to serve as president.
Harris' advisers hope to use the moment to draw a contrast with Republican Donald Trump, who has released only limited information about his health over the years, and raise questions about his fitness to serve, the aide said.
Harris' office did not go into detail about how thorough the report on her medical history would be. The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, said the report concludes Harris “possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief.”
Trump, for his part, has released very little information, including after his ear was grazed by a bullet during an assassination attempt in July.
Trump, 78, eagerly questioned President Joe Biden's health when the 81-year-old president was seeking reelection. Since Biden was replaced on the ticket with Harris, who is 59, Trump's own health has drawn more attention.
Last November, Trump marked Biden's birthday by releasing a letter from his physician that reported the former president was in “excellent” physical and mental health.
The letter posted on Trump’s social media platform contained no details to support its claims — measures like weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, or the results of any test.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, en route to Washington. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
TOKYO (AP) — The recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize is a fast-dwindling group of atomic bomb survivors who are facing down the shrinking time they have left to convey the firsthand horror they witnessed 79 years ago.
Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was awarded for its decadeslong activism against nuclear weapons. The survivors, known as hibakusha, see the prize and the international attention as their last chance to get their message out to younger generations.
“We must seriously think about the succession of our messages. We must thoroughly hand over from our generation to the future generations,” Toshiyuki Mimaki, senior member of the Hiroshima branch of Hidankyo, told reporters Friday night.
“With the honor of the Nobel Peace Prize, we now have a responsibility to get our messages handed down not only in Japan but also across the world.”
The honor rewards members' grassroots efforts to keep telling their stories — even though that involved recollecting horrendous ordeals during and after the bombings, and facing discrimination and worries about their health from the lasting radiation impact — for the sole purpose of never again let that happen.
Now, with their average age at 85.6, the hibakusha are increasingly frustrated that their fear of a growing nuclear threat and push to eliminate nuclear weapons are not fully understood by younger generations.
The number of prefectural hibakusha groups decreased from 47 to 36. And the Japanese government, under the U.S. nuclear umbrella for protection, has refused to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapon.
But there is hope, and a youth movement seems to be starting, the Nobel committee noted.
Three high school students accompanied Mimaki at the city hall, stood by him as the prize winner was announced, and promised to keep their activism alive.
“I had goose bumps when I heard the announcement,” said a beaming Wakana Tsukuda. “I have felt discouraged by negative views about nuclear disarmament, but the Nobel Peace Prize made me renew my commitment to work toward abolishing nuclear weapons.”
Another high school student, Natsuki Kai, said, “I will keep up my effort so we can believe that nuclear disarmament is not a dream but a reality.”
In Nagasaki, another group of students celebrated Hidankyo's win. Yuka Ohara, 17, thanked the survivors' yearslong effort despite the difficulty. Ohara said she heard her grandparents, who survived the Nagasaki bombing, repeatedly tell her the importance of peace in daily life. “I want to learn more as I continue my activism."
In April, a group of people set up a network, Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, connecting younger generations around the country to work with survivors and pursue their effort.
Efforts to document the survivors' stories and voices have grown in recent years around Japan, including in Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Tokyo. In some places, young volunteers are working with hibakusha to succeed their personal story telling when they are gone.
The first U.S. atomic bombing killed 140,000 people in the city of Hiroshima. A second atomic attack on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, killed another 70,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, bringing an end to its nearly half-century aggression in Asia.
Hidankyo was formed 11 years later in 1956. There was a growing anti-nuclear movement in Japan in response to U.S. hydrogen bomb tests in the Pacific that led to a series of radiation exposures by Japanese boats, adding to demands for government support for health problems.
As of March, 106,823 survivors — 6,824 fewer than a year ago, and nearly one-quarter of the total in the 1980s — were certified as eligible for government medical support, according to the Health and Welfare Ministry. Many others, including those who say they were victims of the radioactive “black rain” that fell outside the initially designated areas of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, are still without support.
Terumi Tanaka, co-chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo smiles, combing his hair, ahead of a press conference in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, a day after Nihon Hidankyo, an organization of survivors of the two U.S. atomic bombings, won the Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Copies of an extra version of Asahi Shimbun newspaper with the headline "Hindakyo wins Nobel Peace Prize" lie on a table during a press conference in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, a day after Nihon Hidankyo, an organization of survivors of the two U.S. atomic bombings, won the Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Toshiko Hamanaka, an assistant secretary general of Nihon Hidankyo, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, a day after Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, won the Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Terumi Tanaka, center, co-chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo and other senior members attend a press conference in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, a day after Nihon Hidankyo, an organization of survivors of the two U.S. atomic bombings, won the Nobel Peace Prize. Other members from second left to right, assistant Secretary Generals Toshiko Hamanaka, Masako Wada, and Jiro Hamasumi.(AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Terumi Tanaka, a Nihon Hidankyo executive speaks during a press conference in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, a day after Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, won the Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Visitors stand in front of the cenotaph for Atomic Bomb Victims at the Peace Memorial Park with the Atomic Bomb Dome seen in the background in Hiroshima, western Japan Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. (Kyodo News via AP)
People visit the Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki, southern Japan Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, a day after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. (Kyodo News via AP)
Masako Kudo, an official of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, speaks to media members at its Tokyo office in Tokyo, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Ninon Hidankyo's winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
FILE - Leaders of the Group of Seven nations' meetings walk before the Atomic Bomb Dome during a visit to the Peace Memorial Park as part of the G7 Leaders' Summit in Hiroshima, western Japan Friday, May 19, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Shigemitsu Tanaka, the chairman of Nagasaki Atomic bomb Survivors Council, cries during a press conference, in Nagasaki, western Japan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, after Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, won the Nobel Peace Prize.(Kyodo News via AP)
Shigemitsu Tanaka, the chairman of Nagasaki Atomic bomb Survivors Council, cries during a press conference, in Nagasaki, western Japan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, after Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, won the Nobel Peace Prize.(Kyodo News via AP)
A visitor prays in front of the Peace Statue at the Peace Park in Nagasaki, southern Japan Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, a day after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. (Kyodo News via AP)
