Will President Joe Biden be taking a cognitive test to reassure Americans about his mental health in the wake of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report into his handling of classified information, a report which claimed Biden exhibited serious memory issues? Such is the question on the minds of lots of Americans who want an answer on their commander-in-chief’s mental health, but White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre shot down the idea on Friday, February 9.
That came when KJP was asked if Biden would consider taking a cognitive test in the wake of the Special Counsel report, an idea that GOP 2024 hopefully Nikki Haley threw out on the campaign trail. KJP said that the administration didn’t think the idea “warranted,” then bizarrely claimed that Biden being “active” is evidence that his mental health isn’t failing.
Broaching the subject, the reporter asked, “And finally, in response to the special counsel report, one of the President’s Republican presidential rivals, Nikki Haley, has called for a mental competency test for the President. Is that something that the White House is actively considering as a way to try and put to rest some of these allegations about his memory lapses?”
KJP, in response, pulled a line out of Supreme Court Justice Katanji “Not a Biologist” Jackson’s handbook. That’s because she, in response to the simple question about Biden taking a cognitive test, said, “I mean, look, I’m not a medical doctor. So, certainly, I’m not going to stand here and make — opine on — on tests or anything of that nature.”
But then she went on to justify President Biden not taking such a test, Haltingly, she said, “What I can say is that — and I remember talking to — I remember talking to the President’s doctor last year, when I was asked about a cogniti- — cognitive test when the President’s — when the President’s physical came out.”
She continued, “And he said to me — and I’m — I’m paraphrasing, because this was over a year ago at this point — that because of the President’s actions every day, what he deals with with world leaders, the domestic issues that — that he has to — he has to deal with, he believes that that shows — right? — that shows that the President is very much active and understands what’s going on — right? — and didn’t believe that — didn’t believe that a test like that was warranted because of just who he is as President of the United States and everything that he has to deal with.”
She then returned to the “not a medical doctor” talking point, saying, “But, again, I’m not a medical doctor. We — the President is going to continue to be, obviously, transparent when it comes to his physical. We were over the last two years. We’ll have — he’ll have one this year, and when we’re — when we — the time permits, obviously — or when the time comes, we’ll certainly share that.”
Watch her here:
As a reminder, Special Counsel Hur, in his report, said, “In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (“if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?”), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (“in 2009, am I still Vice President?”), He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he “had a real difference” of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama. In a case where the government must prove that Mr. Biden knew he had possession of the classified Afghanistan documents after the vice presidency and chose to keep those documents, knowing he was violating the law, we expect that at trial, his attorneys would emphasize these limitations in his recall.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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