Doctor says Biden fractured foot while playing with his dog

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden fractured his foot while playing with one of his dogs, but doctors found “no obvious fracture” while examining him Sunday, according to his doctor.

Biden suffered the injury on Saturday and visited an orthopedist at Delaware Orthopaedic Specialists in Newark, Delaware, for an examination Sunday afternoon, his office said. A subsequent CT scan “confirmed hairline (small) fractures of President-elect Biden’s lateral and intermediate cuneiform bones, which are in the mid-foot,” according to a statement from his doctor, Kevin O’Connor.

“It is anticipated that he will likely require a walking boot for several weeks,” O’Conner added.

Reporters covering the president-elect were not afforded the opportunity to see Biden enter the doctor’s office, despite multiple requests. Leaving the doctor’s office to head to an imaging center for his CT scan, Biden was visibly limping, though he walked without a crutch or other aid.

Biden was under examination more than two hours after arriving at the office Sunday afternoon.

Biden sustained the injury playing with Major, one of the Bidens’ two dogs. They adopted Major in 2018, and acquired their first dog, Champ, after the 2008 election. The Bidens have said they’ll be bringing their dogs to the White House and also plan to get a cat.

At 78, Biden will be the oldest president when he’s inaugurated in January, but he frequently dismissed questions about his age on the campaign trail. He released a doctor’s report in December that disclosed he takes a statin to keep his cholesterol at healthy levels, but his doctor described him as “healthy, vigorous” and “fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.”

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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.