Thirty-eight Republican lawmakers on Wednesday demanded President Joe Biden take a cognitive test upon fears that he may have Alzheimer’s disease.
Noting Biden’s “changes in mood and personality” and “forgetfulness,” the 38 Republican lawmakers sent a demand letter for the president to undergo a transparent cognitive test. Biden took a physical examination in November, but he “either did not have a cognitive test or those results were withheld from the public,” the letter stated:
“This is not just a recent trend, as your mental decline and forgetfulness have become more apparent over the past two years,” the letter continued, pinpointing instances of Biden’s “signs of mental decline”:
The Alzheimer’s Association lists “changes in mood and personality,” including being more “easily upset” as one of ten signs of mental decline. 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 asked on inflation.
The letter, signed by Republican notables, such as former President Donald Trump’s White House physician, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), conference chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and chairman of the Republican Study Committee Jim Banks (R-IN), also cited polling of American’s “lost faith in your ability to effectively and competently handle your duties as President of the United States”:
- 48% of voters disagree with the statement that you are mentally fit, with only 46% agreeing and representing a 19-point change from October 2020.
- Independents, by a margin of 23 points, do not believe you are mentally fit.
- 50% of voters disagree with the statement that you are “in good health,” which represents a 29- point shift since October 2020.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) speaks during a news conference with members of the GOP Doctors Caucus on June 24, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images and Insert: Alex Wong/Staff/Getty Images)
U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) (C) speaks as House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) (L) listens during a news conference in front of the U.S. Capitol on July 27, 2021 (Alex Wong/Getty Images).
The lawmakers then pointed to Biden’s history of cognitive decline during recent press conferences and 2020 campaign events:
Further, in a December 16, 2021, press conference with the White House COVID-19 response team, 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. 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. 4 In February 2021, you publicly forgot the purpose of your visit to survey the winter storm damage in Texas.5 In March 2021, you forgot the name of the Pentagon, the Department of Defense, and the Defense Secretary.6 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.
In closing, the letter requests Biden undergo a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) test, which Donald Trump underwent. “MOCA is a simple screening tool to identify early signs of mental impairment,” the letter explained. “The test is best administered when a person or their loved ones ‘start noticing mental decline.'”