Opinion
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre believes it is unnecessary for President Joe Biden to undergo a cognitive test because it demonstrates his abilities in the way he operates on a daily basis.
It appears that the observation was made in the hope that the American public would not have 24/7 access to video evidence to the contrary.
During a White House press conference this week, a reporter insisted to Jean-Pierre that the consideration of whether or not to add a cognitive test to Biden’s annual physical seems like a legitimate idea “particularly in the wake of the White House report special consultant”.
Special Counsel Robert Hur’s damning report regarding Biden’s mishandling of classified documents included information about how his team could not pursue charges because the president’s defense would portray him as an “older, well-intentioned man with poor memory”.
It included evidence that Biden “did not remember when he was vice president” or “when his son Beau died” and showed “impaired ability” and “significant limitations” during his interview with the special prosecutor.
Doocy: “If the special prosecutor says President Biden has significant memory limitations, then who is helping him run the country?”
According to WH press: “The president of the United States rules the country”
Doocy: “How can he be trusted with the nuclear codes?” pic.twitter.com/XT2WHIVKaD
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 9, 2024
RELATED: Peter Doocy Asks Karine Jean-Pierre About Biden’s Mental Problems: ‘How Can You Trust Him About Nuclear Codes?’
Should Biden take a cognitive test? The White House doesn’t think so
A reporter asked Jean-Pierre about a potential cognitive test, noting that the poll shows that “many Americans are concerned about” the president’s mental acuity.
But the press secretary demurred and suggested that the evidence of his mental fitness for duty lies in his daily functions.
“I’ll just say what Dr. (Kevin) O’Connor (of the White House) is kind of — what he told me about a year ago when the report came out last year, obviously, on his physicist, who is the President, demonstrates every day how he operates, how he thinks, right? she answered.
“Dealing with world leaders, making really difficult decisions on behalf of the American people, whether it’s domestic issues, whether it’s national security,” Jean-Pierre continued. “And so, he shows it every day how he thinks, how he operates.”
BREAKING: The White House confirms that Biden will not take a cognitive test as part of his upcoming physical exam.
Biden will be the first American president in history to refuse a cognitive test. pic.twitter.com/q11OkJHxEP
— Financelot (@FinanceLancelot) February 13, 2024
Jean-Pierre then launched into a staunch defense of President Biden when asked again about the cognitive test.
“I have known this president since 2009,” he said. “I…he’s not only my…my boss, but, you know, he’s also kind of…a mentor to me. And at times I spent countless hours with him, both in the Oval Office and on the road.
“And I think, for me — you’re asking me my personal opinion — it’s acute,” he added. “He’s on top of things.”
RELATED: Former Democratic Congressman: It’s time to talk about replacing Biden
He keeps seeing dead people
Suggesting that the American people simply “go to the tape” when trying to determine the mental acuity of an “older, well-meaning man with a poor memory” is certainly an interesting approach.
Especially after a week in which President Biden responded to the special prosecutor’s report by claiming he spoke to two world leaders in 2021 even though they had died many years earlier, referring to Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi as the “president of Mexico, ” and saying that it represents the red and “green” states.
You don’t have to go back very far to see that he would likely have difficulty with the test. But if you Done go back a little and you would see:
- In November 2023, Biden spoke of a conversation he had with “Deng Xiaoping in the Himalayas” when he was vice president. Xiaoping died in 1997.
- In June 2023, Biden wrapped a “God save the queen, man” speech. Queen Elizabeth II had died almost a year before the comment.
- In October 2022, Biden claimed he had once “talked” to the inventor of insulin, who died before the president was born.
- In September 2022, Biden asked if the late Congressman Jackie Walorski – who died in a tragic car accident just a month earlier – was in the audience: “Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie?”
Some social media users suggest that by refusing to take a cognitive test, President Biden is essentially admitting to a problem, much like a person stopped for DWI refusing a breathalyzer.
An NBC News poll shows three-quarters of voters, including half of Democrats, say they are concerned about Biden’s mental and physical health.
If President Biden were to win re-election, he would be between 90 and 86 years old at the end of his second term. Are things that bad right now? At that point they would be exponentially worse.
Former President Donald Trump is said to have taken the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) which he says he “passed.”
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