WASHINGTON – President Biden’s doctor said last year that he believed Biden “understood what was going on” and that cognitive testing was not necessary “because that’s just who he is as president,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
Jean-Pierre told reporters that the presidential doctor Dr. Kevin O’Connor made the remarks to him moments after the 81-year-old president’s annual physical in February 2023 as questions swirled about his mental fitness — months before special counsel Robert Hur’s report on Biden. The mishandling of classified records poured in Thursday about the public perception of Biden suffering from mental decline.
“I mean, look, I’m not a medical doctor, so of course I’m not going to stand here and have an opinion about tests or anything of that nature,” the press secretary said at her regular briefing.
“All I can say is … I remember talking to the president’s doctor last year when I was asked about the cognitive test, when the president’s physical came out, and he said to me — and I’m paraphrasing because it was over a year ago at this point — because of the actions the president every day, what he deals with — with world leaders, domestic issues that he has to deal with — that shows that the president is very active and understands what’s going on.”
President Biden’s doctor said last year he believed the 81-year-old “knew what was going on.” Reuters
O’Connor said, according to Jean-Pierre, that he “doesn’t believe that kind of test is justified because of just who he is as president of the United States and everything he has to deal with.
“But then again, I’m not a medical doctor,” the press secretary concluded.
In a break from historical practice, O’Connor was never allowed to answer reporters’ questions about Biden’s health.
Jean-Pierre responded to Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s request for Biden to undergo a “mental competency” exam after Hur’s report said the president should not face criminal charges in part because “at trial, Mr. Biden will probably appear in person. to the jury, as he did during our interview with him, as a sympathetic, well-intentioned old man, with a weak memory.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president’s doctor made the statement to her last year. ZUMAPRESS.com
Hur wrote that during the five-hour interrogation on Oct. 8. and Oct. 9, Biden “doesn’t remember when he became vice president, forgot on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 — when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgot on the second day of the interview when his term began ( ‘in 2009, am I still the Vice President?’).”
The report added that Biden “does not remember, even in years, when his son Beau died [in May 2015]. And his memory seems hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said that he ‘had a marked difference’ of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited with approval in his Thanksgiving. [2009] memo to President Obama.”
Biden slammed the description of his mental acuity at a hastily arranged press conference Thursday night, insisting, “Remember I’m fine!” and “I know what I’m doing!”
Special counsel Robert Hur’s scathing report on Biden’s mishandling of documents fueled perceptions of Biden’s decline. DOJ
Vice President Kamala Harris, who would succeed Biden if health challenges require him to step down, and several other White House officials insisted on Friday that Biden was dealing with the fallout from the surprise Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 while he was in office. for questions from the Hur team.
“His mind was focused on other matters,” said White House counsel’s office spokesman Ian Sams.
It is unclear whether Biden requested that the interview be rescheduled in the wake of the Hamas attack, or why no such request was made given the apparent pressure on the commander-in-chief.
But Hur’s report comes in the wake of Biden’s missteps, including a trio of statements last week that confused the leaders of Germany and France with their deceased predecessors.
A source told The Post Friday that it is becoming “realistic” that Kamala Harris may have to take over for President Biden. AP
On Thursday night, following his rant against Hur Biden mistakenly referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the president of Mexico.
A well-placed Democratic official told The Post Friday that it’s becoming “realistic” that Harris may have to take over for Biden at some point due to the president’s declining mental health — though they suspect that possibility won’t change the makeup of the 2024 Democratic ticket.
Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination to face Biden in November, unsuccessfully campaigned for a second term in 2020 arguing that Biden was mentally “shot” and claimed that Hur’s decision not to prosecute Biden showed a “two-tier system of justice. “
Trump, 77, is three years and seven months younger than Biden, and faces 40 criminal charges and up to 450 years in prison for allegedly mishandling classified information after leaving office in 2021. His trial is set to begin May 20 in South Florida.
Donald Trump is three years and seven months younger than Biden. AFP via Getty Images
Polls have repeatedly found that the public views Biden’s cognitive status as a matter of concern.
A New York Times poll in November found 71% of swing state voters said Biden was “too old to be an effective president” compared to 39% who said the same about Trump.
A Wall Street Journal poll released in September found that 73% of registered voters believe Biden is too old, compared to just 47% who say the same about Trump.
And a Washington Post-ABC News poll in June found that 32% of voters believed Biden had the mental acuity needed to be president — while 54% said the same about Trump.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
