'Your Mental Decline and Forgetfulness Are More Apparent': Republicans Urge Biden to Get a Cognitive Test

Steve Warren
02-09-2022

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Thirty-eight Republican House members have sent another letter to President Joe Biden, asking him to take a cognitive test.

Several House members sent Biden a letter on this same issue last June, but he never replied. 

Fox News reports the Republican push for Biden to undergo cognitive testing comes as recent polls have shown Americans are unsure of the president's mental fitness for office. 

In the two-page letter, led by a former physician to President Trump, U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, M.D. (R-TX), and signed by three-dozen GOP colleagues, the House members reminded Biden they "believe that, regardless of gender, age, or political party, all Presidents should follow the example set by former President Trump to document and demonstrate sound mental abilities."

"While you underwent your annual physical exam on November 19, 2021, you either did not face a cognitive test or those results were withheld from the public," they continued, adding that even though the president's current doctor cleared Biden physically, the House members wrote they "are worried" about his "mental abilities."

"The Alzheimer's Association lists 'changes in mood and personality,' including being more 'easily upset' as one of ten signs of mental decline," they wrote. "You displayed this type of mood change during a cabinet meeting on January 24, 2022, when you apparently did not know your microphone was on after finishing your opening remarks, and you called a White House reporter a 'stupid son of a b----' in response to a question he asked on inflation."

The lawmakers also pointed to a Dec. 16, 2021, press conference with the White House COVID response team during which "you appeared to be unable to read the numbers in front of you. When attempting to announce the total number of the population who had received a booster shot, you said, '57… excuse me… 570… I don't want to read it, I'm not sure I got the right number…' before being corrected by Dr. Anthony Fauci with the right statistic of 57 million."

"This is not just a recent trend, as your mental decline and forgetfulness have become more apparent over the past two years," they wrote. "On the campaign trail, you often forgot the names of states that you were in for campaign rallies. The Alzheimer's Association points out 'confusion with time or place' as another of the ten signs and symptoms of mental decline. In February 2021, you publicly forgot the purpose of your visit to survey the winter storm damage in Texas."

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"In March 2021, you forgot the name of the Pentagon, the Department of Defense, and the Defense Secretary. Lastly, in May 2021, you told a story from your tenure as Vice President in which you stated that you regularly visited your sick mother via Amtrak in 2013, even though she passed away in 2010," the letter continued. 

"The American people should have absolute confidence in their President," the lawmakers noted. "They deserve to know that he or she can perform the duties of Head of State and Commander-in-Chief. They deserve full transparency on the mental capabilities of their highest elected leader. To achieve this, we urge you to submit to a cognitive test immediately. We implore you to then publish the test results, so the American people know the full mental and intellectual health of their President, and to follow the example set before you."

The lawmakers also reminded Biden taking a cognitive test is not a partisan issue. 

"As Democrat Representative Jamie Raskin previously pointed out, with many politicians and the population at large growing older, 'it's not hard to think that there will be future situations where the President's physical and mental state may create issues for us.' At the time of this quote, Representative Raskin introduced legislation to establish an independent commission that would examine a President's fitness for office and determine 'whether the President is mentally or physically unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office,'" they wrote. 

In an email to Fox News, Jackson said, "As a former physician to three Presidents of the United States, I know what it takes mentally and physically to execute the duties of Commander-in-Chief and Head of State. Joe Biden has continually proven to me and to the world that something isn't right."

During a White House press conference on Jan. 19, the President shrugged off a question from Newsmax reporter James Rosen about his mental acuity. 

"Why do you suppose such large segments of the American electorate have come to harbor such profound concerns about your cognitive fitness?" Rosen asked. 

"I have no idea," Biden replied. 

As CBN News reported last year, questions concerning Biden's mental acuity began last spring after he said something that made it appear the President of the United States is taking orders from someone else. 

"And I'm happy to take questions if that's what I'm supposed to do Nance... whatever you want me to do," Biden said speaking to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

But seconds later, the White House cut the feed with no explanation. 

One writer for RedState.com noted at the time on Biden's trip to Texas, "This is a man whose mental capacity appears to be rapidly declining before our eyes. You can watch videos of Biden from just five years ago and he's a totally different person."

In a video of the president's speech posted to Twitter, Biden can't seem to remember names, and he even asks, "What am I doing here?"

In an op-ed published in the Des Moines Register last August, former four-term Iowa congressman and retired surgeon Dr. Greg Ganske wrote, "It pains me greatly to see a decline in President Biden, and it worries me."

Ganske also noted he wasn't alone in seeing a difference in President Biden. 

"Mike McCormick, who worked 15 years as a White House stenographer and with Biden from 2011 to 2017, has said, 'He's lost a step and he doesn't seem to have the mental acuity he had four years ago... He's a different guy. He read that Democratic National Committee speech verbatim — it's not Joe Biden anymore,'" he wrote. 

"I pray for the president's health," the retired surgeon expressed. "I personally like Joe Biden and want the country to do well under his leadership, though I disagree with most of his policies. But there's enough evidence to legitimately require an inquiry into his mental acuity."

CBN News has reached out to the White House for comment.  We'll publish it here when we hear back. 

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About The Author

Steve Warren is a senior multimedia producer for CBN News. Warren has worked in the news departments of television stations and cable networks across the country. In addition, he also worked as a producer-director in television production and on-air promotion. A Civil War historian, he authored the book The Second Battle of Cabin Creek: Brilliant Victory. It was the companion book to the television documentary titled Last Raid at Cabin Creek currently streaming on Amazon Prime. He holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in Communication from the University of
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