White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said a question from a North Carolina radio interviewer about President Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities was “incredibly insulting.” (Check out the audio below.)
On Tuesday, Mark Garrison of Charlotte’s WBT told Jean-Pierre: “When I told a number of people that I was talking to you today, it was interesting, though. They all said: ‘Would you please just ask her, does the president have dementia?’ And so, before I move on from it ― does he?”
“Mark, I can’t even believe you’re asking me this question,” Jean-Pierre replied.
“But, you know people ask it,” Garrison said.
“You’re taking us down this rabbit hole,” Jean-Pierre replied. “Let me be very clear about this. For the past several years, the president’s physician has laid out very, in a comprehensive way, the president’s health. This is a president — if you watch him every day, if you really pay attention to his record and what he has done, you will see exactly how focused he’s been on the American people, how historic his actions have been. And so I’m not even going to truly... take the premise of your question. I think it is incredibly insulting. And so we can move on to the next question.”
Jean-Pierre then answered a question about grocery and gas prices before saying goodbye to the host. “And with that, thank you so much, Mark. Have an amazing, amazing day,” she said, ending the call.
Some media reports said Jean-Pierre concluded the exchange “abruptly.” The White House told The Daily Beast that Jean-Pierre was merely finished with the seven minutes of allotted time and needed to move on to her next interview. The White House accused WBT of inserting a “busy signal” tone at the end of the call to manufacture more drama.
While the interviewer could be accused of grandstanding in the way he asked about Biden’s cognitive faculties, the issue of the 81-year-old president’s age and that of his presumed GOP challenger, former President Donald Trump, 77, is indeed on Americans’ minds.
A recent poll indicated that a majority of voters have doubts about the mental capabilities of both candidates.
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