US President Joe Biden must pass a cognitive test or drop out of the 2024 presidential campaign, 61 Republican members of the House of Representatives demanded in an open letter to the commander in chief on Thursday.
“The national security of the United States depends on a cognitively sound CommanderinChief, and it is clear that you are not complying with that law,” the letter said, citing concerns from the American public 57% of voters did not vote in a recent one According to polls, Biden believe Biden is “mentally fit” to lead the country — and the president’s refusal to address these issues in his first three years in office.
Led by Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, signatories to the letter urged Biden to “undergo a clinically validated cognitive screening evaluation and make those results publicly available” or to retire and “to give a manager the opportunity to become mentally fit”. ”
The physical exams he underwent in 2021 and earlier this year, which included a statement by White House Physician Kevin O’Connor, that Biden was a “healthy, vigorous 80yearold male who was able to successfully carry out the duties of the President,” he said. That doesn’t count, they argued, since they involve no cognitive judgment—at least, no public judgment.
“In recent years, public appearances where one sways one’s feet, stumbles as one walks, slurs, forgets names, loses the train of thought and appears confused for a moment are the order of the day. […] “So common and conspicuous that an online search for ‘Biden slips’ returns more than 14 million results,” said the lawmakers.
Doubts about the president’s mental fitness have haunted him since the 2020 primary, when candidate Biden occasionally forgot the name of the city or state in which he served, the words of the Declaration of Independence, or even the president under whom he served. eight years as Vice President. At least three other letters urging the president to undergo a cognitive assessment have gone unanswered since he took office in 2021.
Already the oldest president in US history, Biden announced his candidacy for reelection last month. Should he win, he would live to be 86 at the end of his second term. His main Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, is no spring chicken at 76, but he has spearheaded calls for a cognitive assessment of the incumbent and insisted there was something “wrong” with his opponent.