Questions about presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s mental health are swirling as videos of him appearing to be confused or forgetting information are spreading on social media.
But, the Biden campaign says questions about his mental health are not fair game and suggested that they are being weaponized by his opponents to hurt him politically.
During an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday, Biden campaign Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said questions about the former vice president’s mental health are smears.
“This is a disgusting smear tactic and this kind of thing is exactly why people want Joe Biden to be president. This kind of false, you know, misleading, basically a conspiracy theory.”
Watch the video below:
Joe Biden’s Deputy Campaign Manager is asked about his inability to complete sentences:
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 11, 2020
"This is a disgusting smear tactic and this kind of thing is exactly why people want Joe Biden to be president… False, misleading, basically conspiracy theory."pic.twitter.com/hWDLz8zzWY
Co-host Ed Henry jumped in to ask how they can be called a “smear tactic” when there are unedited videos of Biden stumbling over words. Bedingfield asked, “Respectfully, how many times have you struggled to complete a sentence on air?”
“I’m not running for president,” Henry responded.
Bedingfield suggested that President Donald Trump has been trying to raise questions about Biden’s mental acuity because he is “scared” about the general election.
“If I’m Donald Trump and I saw Joe Biden last night giving the speech that he gave sounding presidential, looking like a leader, if I’m looking at the turnout that he is generating across the country, I’m scared too and I’m starting to throw this kind of nonsense against the wall.”
As Biden has emerged as the front runner for the Democratic nomination, social media users have shared videos of Biden stumbling over a sentence or getting confused and raised questions about his mental health.
https://twitter.com/JoeySalads/status/1235044658859802624
Here's how Joe Biden reflected back on the moment he told a union worker that he:
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) March 11, 2020
– is "full of shit"
– is a "horse's ass"
– that he doesn't need an "AR-14"
– that he would slap him
This is the best Democrats have to offer. He's senile. pic.twitter.com/Aq9G7lKwZx
Today Joe Biden argued with a voter, called the AR-15 an "AR-14" and then threatened to slap the voter in the face. This is an old man losing control of his mind. At what point do Democrats realize what a giant mistake they’ve made backing senile Joe? pic.twitter.com/PBj3fuKEAu
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) March 10, 2020
Biden said in a recent debate gun violence killed 150 MILLION people since 2007. That's HALF the US population. If Dems pick Biden, GOP will bombard voters with many, MANY clips like this to argue #BidensCognitiveDecline makes him unfit for office. Don't say you weren't warned. https://t.co/tWNmTQ7fhr
— Dr. Jill Stein? (@DrJillStein) March 10, 2020
WOW! Sleepy Joe doesn’t know where he is, or what he’s doing. Honestly, I don’t think he even knows what office he's running for! pic.twitter.com/454v9GFpgF
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2020
However, Twitter recently labeled a video of Biden, retweeted by Trump, “manipulated” because it was edited and took Biden’s comments out of context.
The Trump campaign, however, pushed back and argued that it was not manipulated.
One group of mental health professionals recently told Yahoo News they are not concerned about Biden, but they are worried about Trump’s mental health.
“A few stumbled words are not the same as the extreme danger that result from a list of signs that Donald Trump has shown,” said Yale psychiatrist Bandy Lee.
However, in March 2019, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway said she does not “share those concerns” about Trump’s mental health.
