A former White House physician who has since become a Republican lawmaker has raised concerns about President Biden’s mental fitness, calling it a matter of “national security.”
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, who previously served as the top White House physician for former Presidents Obama and Trump, expressed his views in response to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal. Jackson stated, “The article’s just documenting what I’ve been saying all along: he’s not fit to be the commander-in-chief. He’s got significant issues, he shouldn’t have the job. You know, it’s a national security issue for us.”
The Wall Street Journal’s report, based on interviews with 45 individuals over several months, suggests that congressional leaders and others who have interacted with Biden have noticed he “appears slower now” and experiences both “good moments and bad ones.”
Earlier this year, a report from the Department of Justice’s special counsel described Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory” during an investigation into his mishandling of classified documents from his Senate tenure. This description ultimately led to him not facing charges.
At 81, Biden is the oldest sitting president in U.S. history. Critics argue that his age has impacted his cognitive abilities. If re-elected in November, he would be 86 by the end of his second term.
Biden has been known for making gaffes, dating back to his time as vice president, but recent verbal missteps and instances of low energy during private meetings have raised further concerns.
In May, Biden made a notable error when he confused the timing of the COVID-19 pandemic by several years, saying, “And when I was vice president, things were kind of bad during the pandemic, and, what happened was Barack said to me: ‘Go to Detroit — and help fix it.’” The pandemic occurred years after his vice presidency.
Biden has also mistakenly referred to deceased individuals as being alive. For example, in 2022, he called out former Rep. Jackie Walorski during a speech, despite her having died in a car crash the previous month. Additionally, during a February campaign rally, Biden mistakenly referenced the late French President François Mitterrand, who died in 1996, in a conversation about the G7 meeting.
The Wall Street Journal’s report also included comments from some Democrats who noted that Biden showed his age in several interactions.
Rep. Jackson speculated that the detailed and well-sourced report might indicate the beginning of a political movement within the Democratic Party to prepare for a transition away from Biden. “I think that the fact that it came out like this, and is so well sourced, tells me that this might be the left’s first attempt to start laying the groundwork to get rid of him,” Jackson said.
Jackson mentioned that he has sent five letters to the White House since Biden took office in January 2021, urging him to take a cognitive test and to make the results public. He stated that all five letters have gone unanswered.
Recent polls indicate that Biden’s age is a significant concern for voters. A March New York Times/Siena College poll found that 61% of respondents who voted for Biden in 2020 agreed with the statement, “Joe Biden is just too old to be an effective president.”
