President Joe Biden, 81, the oldest-serving president in U.S. history, did not take a cognitive test during his annual physical Wednesday, and the White House said he doesn't need one because he passes one every day while doing his job.
There have been concerns about a decline in Biden's cognitive abilities, especially after special counsel Robert Hur's report that showed a reason he did not charge the president for handling classified documents was because "It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his 80s — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during Wednesday's briefing "the President doesn't need a cognitive test."
"That is not my assessment," she said. "That is the assessment of the president's doctor [Kevin O'Connor]. That is also the assessment of the neurologist who has also made that assessment as well.
"And you've heard us say this, and I'll reiterate this: The president's doctor has said, if you look at what this president, who is also the commander in chief — he passes a cognitive test every day — every day, as he moves from one topic to another topic, trying — understanding the granular level of these topics."
Following a speech Wednesday at the White House on crime and community safety, Biden told reporters, "Everything is great." When asked if there was anything to concern Americans, Biden joked, "Well, they [the doctors] think I look too young."
Jean-Pierre was asked if Biden is passing a cognitive test every day as part of his job, why not have him take one to quash any concerns Americans might have? She said because his personal physician and a neurologist said he doesn't need one.
"Folks need to understand that the president passes, again, a cognitive test every day," Jean-Pierre said. "If you look at what a clinical cognitive test … actually does, it is a 15-minute appointment that is administered by someone that, most of the time, people don't actually know. And the president has a team of doctors that is with him 24/7. And he is able to do the work every day that is rigorous — that is more rigorous than it would be for any 15-minute clinical appointment."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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