OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A former White House physician has delivered some troubling news about Joe Biden after the president took a nasty spill in Colorado last week following his Air Force Academy commencement speech.
Dr. Ronny Jackson, now a Republican congressman from Texas, has offered his response to the incident, which was followed up by Biden appearing to bang his head on the hatch of Marine One when he was exiting the helicopter last week.
“I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but I’m just going to say it again: This man’s not fit mentally or physically to be our president,” Jackson said during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Friday.
“It’s just a bad situation for us,” he continued. “Part of the job of the president of the United States is to inspire confidence and to project power. And he’s not doing that. He can’t do that. He’s too old to do that.”
“And I just, I think it’s a shame that his … lack of physical ability and his physical decline is now starting to highlight the cognitive decline that we’ve been watching for so long now,” Jackson noted further. “And it’s a package that just doesn’t sell well around the world. And it’s becoming a national security issue for us. We have to do something about it.”
President Biden is 80 years old and mentally unstable. This man is NOT FIT to work the counter at Ben and Jerry’s, let alone to be our Commander in Chief!!! He’s totally incapable of the job, and needs to take a cognitive test immediately or else RESIGN pic.twitter.com/inz9EwhDTX
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) November 28, 2022
Early in his first term, there were reports that some White House aides were “concerned” about then-President Donald Trump’s mental health, leading to mentions of using the 25th Amendment to remove him. Under that amendment, which was ratified in February 1967 in the years after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, a president can be removed from office if a majority of Cabinet members agree he or she is unable to perform their duties. A president can refute the issue, and if so, ultimately, Congress would decide the issue by a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
Those discussions did not go anywhere, obviously, but there haven’t been similar rumblings about Biden, though his physical and mental decline are outwardly more significant. That said, Jackson has been the one lawmaker who has most frequently addressed the subject, which comes from a position of authority given his status as a former White House physician.
After his fall on stage, a video posted by the Republican National Committee’s Research arm on Friday appeared to show Biden bumping his head as he exits the helicopter known as Marine One. Also, he failed to return the salute of the Marine posted at the exit, as is customary for the commander-in-chief.
FULL VIDEO: Biden bumps his head as he gets off Marine One, then tells reporters he “got sandbagged” yesterday at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation pic.twitter.com/rms7HKV64S
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 2, 2023
“Biden bumps his head as he gets off Marine One, then tells reporters he ‘got sandbagged’ yesterday at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation,” the RNC Research post that included the video said.
It’s not clear if the president actually did bump his noggin, but he appears to rub the top-back portion of his head a few seconds later.
BREAKING: Biden takes a big fall on stage just now at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation pic.twitter.com/GxkMbpyoNo
— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) June 1, 2023
Trump was informed of Biden’s mishap during a campaign speech in Iowa, but he neglected to ridicule Biden over the incident and instead made a self-deprecating joke.
“He fell down? Well, I hope he wasn’t hurt,” Trump said upon hearing the news.