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Joe Biden must take a cognitive test, majority of voters say in poll

Daily Mail Online 2 days ago

President Joe Biden needs to undergo a mental and physical health check because his condition has obviously deteriorated over the past year, a majority of likely voters revealed in an exclusive DailyMail.com poll. 

A stunning seven out of 10 respondents said that the president should take a cognitive test after the 81-year-old overwhelmingly concerned voters, politicians and pundits with his disastrous Atlanta presidential debate against Donald Trump

The survey of 1,000 likely voters, conducted days after the debate, also found that 70 percent think Biden should also get another overall physical examination. 

Biden blamed his poor performance last week, in part, on being sick with a cold, one the White House has said he got during his international trip - 19 days ago.  

Major questions loom over the commander-in-chief's bill of health, prompting a frenzy of meetings among Democrats worried about their prospects in November - including whether Biden should be replaced atop the party's ticket.

Over 70 percent of likely voters believe President Joe Biden should get a cognitive test, an exclusive DailyMail.com poll conducted after the debate found
Over 70 percent of likely voters believe President Joe Biden should get a cognitive test, an exclusive DailyMail.com poll conducted after the debate found

The White House, seemingly trying to catchup to comments made by the president, finally confirmed Thursday that Biden saw a physician after his stumbling debate performance – but claimed it was just to check on that cold, which advisors have said was the cause of his hoarse voice during the CNN event.

‘Several days later, the President was seen to check on his cold and was recovering well,’ White House spokesman Andrew Bates told DailyMail.com on July 4th. Though there are no indications he underwent a more substantial battery of examinations.

The announcement of the health check was a walk-back of a previous claim made by White House Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre just a day earlier when the DailyMail.com asked if he had seen a doctor about the lingering cold. Wednesday. 

She said then that Biden had not been to a doctor since contracting his multi-week illness.

He 'still has a lingering cold,' she said repeatedly during the near hour-long briefing that centered almost exclusively on questions about Biden's ability to continue running for reelection. 

She also said that the octogenarian president - other than the recent check - hasn't had a medical examination since his annual physical in February.

Biden's physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, travels with him. He was seen by reporters at the president's villa in Italy last month. O'Connor also traveled with Biden to the debate in Atlanta.

Immediately after the debate, Democrats began expressing concern over Biden's age and acuity
Immediately after the debate, Democrats began expressing concern over Biden's age and acuity
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (above) is used widely to check patients with neurodegenerative illness
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (above) is used widely to check patients with neurodegenerative illness

Additionally, DailyMail.com's exclusive poll shows 60 percent of likely voters believe the president's health has gotten notably worse since the beginning of the year. 

Out of the 1,000 likely voters, just 18 percent disagreed that he has gotten worse.

And 55 percent believe Biden has declined in the last month, the poll shows.  

'The only option for the White House now – if they want Biden to stay in – is for full transparency,' said pollster James Johnson, who conducted the Mail survey.

'If Biden really does not have an age problem then they need to show everything they can to try and reassure voters of that, right down to medical tests.'

'Even then it feels like voters have already made their minds up that Biden is unfit to govern,' he added. 

A majority of likely voters said that Joe Biden's health has declined noticeably in the last year and month
A majority of likely voters said that Joe Biden's health has declined noticeably in the last year and month

The widespread panic over the president's fitness after the debate has been supplemented by a deluge of video content online showing a flailing Biden

Two out of three voters told Daily Mail that they have seen embarrassing viral social media videos of Joe. 

Those videos include Biden stumbling, looking confused and or garbling his words. 

One clip that circulated widely showed the president wandering off while looking up to the sky at a D-Day ceremony in France. 

Another clip shows the wide-eyed president motionless while accompanied by his dancing VP and other White House guests at a Juneteenth ceremony. 

Videos like that have been seen as hostile towards the president, with Jean-Pierre calling them deceptively edited 'cheap fakes.'  

Earlier this week, former White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci demurred when asked if he was alarmed by Biden's condition at the debate. 

'You know, I can't say,' he said in an interview with CBS.  

'I think it would be inappropriate to say that, Major, because when you're just looking at someone on a one-shot basis, you just don't know what could happen,' Fauci said.

The doctor did suggest, however, that antihistamines used to treat cold and flu could have contributed to Biden's sleepy showing. 

'Did he have a bad cold? Did he take an antihistamine to make him groggy or what have you? We don't know what went on,' Fauci continued.

Despite the concerns over his cognitive and physical health and bad debate performance, Democrats who have met with the president in recent days have put on a united front in support of the aging Biden. 

A cohort of Democrat governors from across the country met with Biden Wednesday evening to express their concerns with him and hear his case for why he should remain atop the party's ticket. 

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the current head of the Democratic Governors Association and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul were tasked with addressing the press after the meeting that was put on the schedule after Biden's debate disaster. 

'We always believe that when you love someone, you tell them the truth,' Moore said. 

'We know we have work to do,' he added. 'We know that as we're standing right here, we're behind.'

'But was also know that that path to be able to make sure that we can pull ahead in November is real.' 

'The president continued to tell us and show us that he was all in,' the Marylander continued. 'Then we said that we would stand with him.'

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