Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany confronted former Obama administration official Marie Harf Friday on Fox News’ “Outnumbered” over claims former President Joe Biden was “mentally capable” of handling the duties of the presidency.
Several newly-released books detail Biden’s health issues and cognitive decline during his term in office, with one book, “Original Sin,” by CNN host Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson, reporting the former president failed to recognize Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney, a long-time supporter. Harf said that while she believed Biden should not have run for reelection, she also disputed reports of his declining capacity.
“What’s interesting is the quote you just read generally refers to physical health. We all saw Biden’s physical health deteriorating in front of us,” Harf said, with McEnany, a former White House press secretary, interjecting with, “And mental.”
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“Well, that is a separate question. I haven’t seen evidence presented by a doctor or someone else that says Joe Biden was not mentally able to do the job,” Harf claimed, leading McEnany to ask, “Did you watch the debate?”
Biden froze at least twice and made multiple verbal gaffes during a June 27, 2024, debate with former President Donald Trump moderated by Tapper and CNN host Dana Bash.
“I did, but that’s a different issue, Kayleigh. That’s not a mental issue,” Harf claimed. “If we were to start putting presidential doctors under subpoena – first of all, there is patient-phyician confidentiality that is a legal and ethical standard that patients and doctors have protecting them. Do you want to put Donald Trump’s doctor under subpoena?”
McEnany and Harf continued to argue back-and-forth about Biden’s condition.
“So you believe Donald Trump is in bad health?” McEnany asked, with Harf responding, “I don’t know what his health is like, but when I watch him on TV and he forgets names of people, mixes things up, repeatedly saying things that when Joe Biden said them, Republicans were like ‘he is mentally impaired.’ Donald Trump says mentally impaired things every day and no one reacts.”
“You are the last Democrat on planet Earth dying on this hill of Biden was perfectly mentally capable and Trump is not, and the polling reflects that your own party didn’t want him to run,” McEnany responded.
Comedian and co-host of “The Brilliant Idiots” podcast Andrew Schultz stated that Americans lost trust in Democrats over their “deceit” in covering up Biden’s deteriorating health in 2024. Recent reporting on Biden’s health during his presidency prompted a review from the Trump Administration on whether Autopen was used to sign off on decisions and orders, a claim the Biden administration denies.
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