The White House says President Joe Biden will not undergo a cognitive ability test – even after the Justice Department produced a scathing report about his “poor memory” and voters expressed serious concerns about the sharpness of his mind, New York Post reports.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday, quoting from Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor:
The president proves every day [in] how he operates and how he thinks — by dealing with world leaders, by making difficult decisions on behalf of the American people — whether it’s domestic or national security. That is how Dr. O’Connor sees it, and that is how I’m going to leave it. When we have meetings with him and his staff, he is constantly pushing us, trying to get more information, and so that has been my experience with this president.
The contentious issue took on even more urgency after a report Thursday from special counsel Robert Hur suggested that prosecutors would not charge the president with “knowingly” possessing classified material – because of a lack of evidence and because a jury would likely view the commander-in-chief as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” and “diminished faculties at an advanced age.”
O’Connor did not conduct any cognitive tests with Biden last year. The doctor also never answered questions from the press – a clear departure from White House precedent.
Jean-Pierre, when asked if O’Connor would finally be allowed to take questions from reporters after the oldest president’s annual physical examination, which is expected to take place as early as this month, declined to say whether that would happen.
Jean-Pierre maligned Hur, saying:
He’s not a medical doctor. He’s just not. It’s not for him to speak to. It’s just not.
Later in the evening, Biden looked confused as he appeared on the same stage as Jordan’s King Abdullah II during a joint speech in which he reaffirmed their commitment to further humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and an end to the war between Israel and Hamas. The president told the royal leader before shuffling around behind him aimlessly, staring down at the floor as if he was searching for a mark to stand on:
Your majesty, over to you.
Biden moved back and forth behind Abdullah, but then decided to stand to the left of the king in front of the Jordanian flag. The hesitation caused Abdullah at one point to look over his shoulder to see Biden, who had already moved to the opposite side. Biden said:
I switched sides on you.
Social media users were divided in their assessment of the incident, with some accusing the White House of “elder abuse” while covering up the president’s apparent cognitive decline, while others said Biden was “very clearly looking for a marker to get on camera.”
An ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday after Hur’s announcement found that 86% of American adults believe Biden is too old for another term as president, while 62% said former President Donald Trump, 77, is also too old for a second term.
In September, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 74% of Americans believe the president is too old to be re-elected, while 49% said the same about Trump.
