Texas Rep. — Trump's Former Doctor — Demands Biden Take Cognitive Test
Dr. Ronny Jackson, who went from serving as Donald Trump’s presidential physician to representing Texas in Congress as a Republican, is accusing President Joe Biden of cognitive decline.
On Thursday, Jackson released a letter asking the 77-year-old president to submit to a cognitive test immediately because of “mental decline and forgetfulness.”
The letter claims that all presidents should follow in Trump’s footsteps to “document and demonstrate sound mental abilities.”
Trump infamously bragged about acing a cognitive test that required him to remember the order of five objects: “person, woman, man, camera, TV.”
“The first questions are very easy,” the president told Fox News’ Chris Wallace last year. “The last questions are much more difficult. Like a memory question.”
The test the then-president was talking about is meant to detect Alzheimer’s, not intelligence, and Trump’s boast became something of a joke — making Jackson’s letter all the more questionable.
“The American people deserve to have absolute confidence in their President. They deserve to know that he or she can perform the duties demanded of the office, and they deserve to have full transparency on the mental state of their highest elected leader,” the letter reads.
It was signed by 13 other House Republicans
Given the precedent set and President Biden’s CLEAR mental struggles, I believe it’s past time he take a cognitive test.
I sent a letter to him saying just that! ⬇️https://t.co/6RCKj7pFYd— Ronny Jackson (@RepRonnyJackson) June 17, 2021
On Wednesday, following his bilateral meeting with Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters the president is “of sound mind and should be taken seriously,” correcting misinformation previously published by Russian media.
Many called Jackson’s judgment into question following the release of the letter. While serving as a White House physician, he faced multiple accusations of misconduct, including making “sexual and denigrating” comments about a female subordinate and violating the policy on drinking alcohol on presidential trips, prompting colleagues to worry about his ability to provide proper medical care.
As you might expect, Jackson’s letter about Biden brought up a lot memories for snarky Twitter users.
Ronny jackson once proclaimed that Trump had “Absolutely no Cognitive or mental issues.” So it’s fair to say his judgement is a touch impaired. https://t.co/1LDylfpmqL
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) June 17, 2021
Republicans in Congress have really perfected the art of acting idiotic AND ghoulish at the same time, here going so far as to accuse President Biden of forgetting when his own mother died https://t.co/m1S3W0Jr6h
— Mark Follman (@markfollman) June 17, 2021
Consider this my letter to Ronny Jackson calling on him to take a breathalyzer. https://t.co/AoAOd89LPy
— Christopher Orr (@OrrChris) June 17, 2021
Ronny Jackson, the shameless quack who praised Trump's "incredibly good genes" and predicted he could live to 200, would have been right at home in the Brezhnev regime, diagnosing dissidents with "sluggish schizophrenia," "delusions of reformism," and other fictitious disorders. https://t.co/1kLA3cV6SV
— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) June 17, 2021
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.