At a White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended President Biden’s mental fitness in response to reporters’ questions about cognitive testing during his annual physical.
While acknowledging no formal cognitive test was administered, Jean-Pierre argued that being president is itself a “very rigorous job” that serves as a “cognitive test every day” as Biden moves between complex topics.
Jean-Pierre said, “If you look at what this president — he passes a cognitive test every day, every day, as he moves from one topic to another topic, understanding the granular level of these topics … this is a very rigorous job.”
TRUMP: I asked the doctor, I said, 'is there some kind of cognitive test that I could take?' … the last questions are much more difficult. Like a memory question. You'll go 'person, woman, man, camera, TV.' So they say — 'can you repeat that?' … for me it was easy." 😳 pic.twitter.com/pCKYoNy3BH
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 23, 2020
She noted the White House physician found Biden’s physical exam went well and would release a health memo, but could not explain why the doctor was not made available to the press, unlike under previous administrations including Donald Trump’s.
Jean-Pierre added the claim that White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor was “happy with how everything went.”
Jean-Pierre aimed to rebut concerns about Biden’s acuity by portraying the demands of the presidency itself as sufficient to evaluate his cognitive abilities on a daily basis.
