“Look, I take cognitive tests every day. I take tests every day. Everything that I do. You know, I’m not just running a campaign, I might be running the world,” Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Friday.
Stephanopoulos asked three times if the president should undergo a thorough neurological and cognitive exam. Three times the president refused. “Nobody said I had to do that. Nobody said that,” Biden insisted. “I was told I’d be OK.”
Would you accept this answer from an elderly parent facing a similar situation? Or would you strongly encourage them to see a doctor? Of course, you would make sure they get a full test, just to make sure they’re getting the right treatment. If Biden’s family is resisting this step, it’s doing him a terrible disservice.
This, by the way, would be a requirement of anyone running for office at Biden’s age, or Donald Trump’s age. The presidency is uniquely stressful. Biden will be 82 when he takes the oath of office for his second term and 86 when he leaves office.
That’s old age, and older people have declining cognitive and physical abilities. This unavoidable fact requires additional safeguards before and after electing someone of that age to the presidency.
By refusing to take a cognitive ability test, Biden and his team find themselves in a contradiction of their own making.
Before the debate disaster, Biden’s repeated rebuttal to concerns about his age was simple. look at meWhen I actually tried it, I found something worrying.
So the campaign has, in effect, acknowledged that it bears the burden of proving Biden’s eligibility, but has refused to take the most prudent steps to achieve that goal.
Why? What rational reason would you have not done so, other than to avoid a politically inconvenient outcome? And refusing to testify is not the same as refusing to testify, which can and should be held against you in the court of public opinion.
The short 22-minute interview with Stephanopoulos was not enough, and Stephanopoulos decided to limit his questions to Biden’s fitness and whether he would continue in the campaign. He did not probe deeper. There was little other opportunity for the interviewer to ask tough questions to test Biden’s ability to answer questions about economic policy, foreign affairs and other issues.
Biden’s performance was by no means disqualifying, but it wasn’t reassuring either. “I don’t think so” is not the best answer to the question of whether Biden has rewatched the debates.
And as for Biden’s answer as to whether he knew how bad the situation was in real time, well, it could have been a typical Biden rambling, something we’ve witnessed covering him for years, or maybe it was something more.
Here is Biden’s response in full: “The whole process that I went through, it’s nobody’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault but me. I prepared to sit down, as I always do, with foreign leaders and the National Security Council to go over the details. And somewhere along the way, you know, I discovered that, on everything I was quoted on, The New York Times had undervalued what I said before the debate by 10 points. Now it’s nine points, I don’t know what. The fact is, I looked it up, he lied 28 times. The way the debate was conducted was not my fault, it’s nobody’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault.”
Becoming a politician, running for president and winning, is venturing into a realm of selfishness and entitlement that most of us don’t know. There is always an “only I can solve it” side to every successful politician.
Biden has been impressively articulate about the importance of the November race, but he never seems to acknowledge the reality of his own diminished competency and the risks that come with it. He says polls aren’t as reliable as they used to be, and that elected officials are always “a little worried.” “I don’t think there’s anybody more qualified to be president or to win this race,” Biden said.
If Biden continues to run as promised, “unless God almighty comes down and says, ‘Joe, stand down,'” I will be voting for him over Trump, no matter what happens between now and Election Day. The risk of Biden being weakened is far less than the risk of Trump gaining strength and getting re-elected.
But many voters may not be as sure about that choice as I am. We all have a right to the most complete and up-to-date information about the President’s health, and his unwillingness to provide it speaks volumes.
