A former White House physician says President Biden’s cognitive abilities have deteriorated to the point that they present a “national security issue.”
Rep. Ronny Jackson, Texas Republican, said that Mr. Biden should take a test of his mental acuity, which he said has obviously deteriorated at a time when the risk of a war with Russia requires a sharp U.S. president.
“I’m not trying to make a diagnosis,” cautioned Mr. Jackson, who was White House physician under President Trump. “But I think the whole world sees that he’s having some issues. He’s struggling cognitively.”
“It’s not a good time to have a commander-in-chief and a head of state that’s having these particular issues. I think there’s something going on … it’s a national security issue at this particular point,” he told John Hines of One America News in an impromptu interview posted Wednesday.
Mr. Hines asked him a second time whether “this has national security implications, his cognitive abilities?” and the physician doubled down.
“Well sure, look at what’s going on … In that position, if you have cognitive issues, it’s going to be a national security issue regardless,” Mr. Jackson replied.
The Texan did note that he had been saying since “he was Candidate Joe Biden that I don’t think he’s cognitively fit to be president.”
But now, he said, Mr. Biden’s penchant for slow speech and gaffes — in a recent trip to Poland for example, he called for regime change in Russia and seemed to tell American troops that they’d soon be facing Russian ones — has become obvious and dangerous.
“Over time, the American public has seen this on display over and over. As each day goes on, concern continues to grow,” he said.
Mr. Jackson said that Mr. Biden did not have a cognitive test performed and the results released during his last physical exam.
“We had done that when I was physician for President Trump and I think the precedent was somewhat set and he should do the same,” Mr. Jackson said.