The White House is quizzed on Biden’s cognitive state

Australian Community Media

The White House denies that US President Joe Biden has any health conditions impeding his cognitive state. In a press conference with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, journalists repeatedly asked about Biden’s mental wellbeing.

Transcript

00:00I think the American people need to get a yes or no answer on this.

00:04Does President Biden at 81 years old have Alzheimer's, any form of dementia,

00:10or degenerative illness that caused these sorts of lapses? And it's a yes or no question.

00:18And if you don't know, why don't you as one of his senior staff members know?

00:24I have an answer for you. Are you ready for it? Yes.

00:26It's a no. And I hope you're asking the other guy the same exact question.

00:30Okay, go ahead. Democrats are articulating is that it wasn't

00:34just that he had a cold, but rather he had answers. He was trailing off. He didn't answer

00:40some questions in a sort of fulsome way. And speaking of Nancy Pelosi, one of the things

00:47that she recently said was that it was a legitimate question whether his performance was an episode or

00:52a condition. So I guess I wonder if there's been any consideration given to releasing a more robust

00:58set of medical records or something to show his mental acuity?

01:02So I will say this. Look, and again, I get the question. It is a fair question to ask. We are

01:08not taking that away. And that's why the President certainly has spoken to this. As it relates to his

01:13medical records, we have been transparent. We have released thorough reports from his medical

01:19team every year since he's been in office. That is something that we have been pretty consistent

01:23about. As it relates to something like a cognitive test, to the question that you're

01:31asking me about what the former speaker said, obviously she can speak for herself.

01:36His team, who has said, the medical team said, it is not warranted in this case. We have put

01:42forward a thorough, transparent annual report on his health. So they have said that is not warranted.

01:49It is not necessary. Again, we understand. We understand. We're not taking away from what you

01:55all saw or what the American people saw. We understand. It was a bad night. It is not uncommon

02:02for incumbents to have a bad night on their first debate. And we are going to continue to do the

02:09work that we have been doing on behalf of the American people. I think the President's record

02:15certainly speaks for itself.

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