OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Joe Biden on Thursday appeared with Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a vulnerable House Democrat, to discuss lowering prescription drug costs.
Biden spoke Spanberger’s work in office as he was trying to push his Build Back Better agenda, which has stalled in Congress.
“It’s great to be here with Abigail, congresswoman Spanberger. And in every chapter in her career, in every chapter, she’s always been about one thing: service. Service,” Biden said in remarks in Culpeper.
“Back in 2017, she saw her representative in Congress vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act; that was one of more than 100 Republican efforts,” he said. “But she knew that was the exact opposite of what central Virginia badly needed.”
But Biden’s most interesting comment came when he was speaking about his own previous medical issues.
WATCH:
BIDEN: "I was hospitalized a long time. I had a couple of years ago… aneurysms"
*as he has another aneurysm*
Nothing to see here, folks… pic.twitter.com/tIqBfA2rEE
— Danny De Urbina (@dannydeurbina) February 10, 2022
Earlier this week, a group of Republican lawmakers called for Biden to take a cognitive test because they believe his “mental decline” has “become more apparent” and could be impeding his judgment.
Nearly 40 GOP congressional members want Biden to follow the precedent set by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, as recent polling increasingly shows more Americans are not certain of Biden’s mental fitness for the demanding job of president.
Led by former White House physician Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, 37 other Republican colleagues signed a letter to Biden on Tuesday in which they said they had “concern” about his “current cognitive state.”
“My colleagues and I are again asking President Biden to immediately undergo a formal cognitive screening exam, such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA),” 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,” Jackson added. “Joe Biden has continually proven to me and to the world that something isn’t right. The American people deserve to have absolute confidence in their President’s cognitive ability.”
The Texas Republican said taking “the cognitive test will be an important first step” for Biden to reassure concerned Americans that he is fit for office or “in identifying and properly treating symptoms of impairment that are consistent with a variety of cognitive diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, vascular dementia, Parkinson’s, or multiple sclerosis.”
“This is not a partisan issue. When I discussed taking a cognitive test with President Trump, he was eager to assure the American people and to put the fake news media’s stories to bed,” Jackson wrote. “Why won’t President Biden do the same?
“We can only assume the worst if he doesn’t submit to the same standard that his own party demanded of the last Administration,” he noted further. “The precedent has been set.”
“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,” the group of Republicans continued. They added that while the current White House physician cleared Biden physically, the GOP lawmakers wrote that they “are worried about your mental abilities.“
