Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Tuesday that it’s valid for people to ask if the president is Joe Biden. poor performance in debate Thursday night was just “an episode” or part of a “condition”.
“I think it’s an episode or a condition? Is it a legitimate question to say? When people ask that question, it’s perfectly legitimate for both candidates,” Pelosi, still a prominent member of the House Democratic Caucus, told MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” said in an interview.
“Both candidates are up to any test you want to put them to in terms of their mental acuity and their health — both of them,” he said.
Asked for further clarification, Pelosi spokesman Ian Krager said he “has full confidence in President Biden and looks forward to attending his inauguration on January 20, 2025.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at Tuesday’s daily briefing that the administration is being transparent about Biden’s health.
“We submitted a comprehensive, transparent annual report on his health, so they said it’s not warranted, it’s not necessary,” he said.
Asked after the debate whether Biden had been seen by a doctor or had a neurological exam, Jean-Pierre said people needed to “step back” and that Biden aides understood the president had a “bad night.”
During last week’s debate, Biden repeatedly appeared lost in train of thought and stumbled over his words several times. His performance – which even close allies admitted failure – new speculation on whether he should be replaced as the Democratic presidential candidate.
Trump, who is 78 years old, has since faced questions about his mental health He confused Pelosi with former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley earlier this year. And several businessmen who met with Trump in Washington last month told CNBC he was “grossly slouched” and “couldn’t keep a straight mind” throughout the event.
Speaking from a teleprompter at a campaign event Friday, Biden, who is 81 years old, admitted that he is getting older and doesn’t argue as well as he used to. But he insisted that he was ready for the job.
Pelosi said she has heard mixed messages from elected Democrats about whether Biden should stay in the race. On the one hand, he said, people say, “Joe is our guy. We love him; we trust him. He has vision, knowledge, judgment, integrity. The other guy has none of the above.”
“It will be up to Joe Biden to do what he thinks,” he said. “There is no more patriotic person in our country than this president of the United States.”
Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas on Tuesday He became the first Democrat in Congress to call on Biden to drop out of the race. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., told CNN On Tuesday, whether or not the president ultimately decided to take a leave of absence, “we have to be honest with ourselves that it wasn’t just a terrible night.”
Pelosi said she’s not a doctor and can’t predict what will happen three or four years from now, but she said her experience tells her she will “go on to be a great president of the United States.”
He stressed that Biden needs to show the American people what he looks like unscripted, and said his recommendation is to sit down for a few interviews with serious reporters where any question is fair game and that Biden can “just sit there and be Joe.”
“Not one, maybe two — several of them. I think that’s important,” Pelosi said. “I think it’s important for them to do that.”
on tuesday, ABC News reported on this Biden will sit down for an interview with host George Stephanopoulos on Friday.
Pelosi said has not spoken to Biden since the debate last week. Former House Democratic whip and close Biden ally D.C. Rep. James Clyburn said in a separate interview on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that he had not spoken to the president since the debate.
White House Biden’s health information was last released in February 2024 after a routine physical exam.
At the time, Jean-Pierre dismissed suggestions that Biden had undergone a cognitive test, saying the president “goes from one topic to another, understanding the level of detail of these topics” “every day.”
Trump in November 2023 He left a letter from his doctorr who said the former president was in “excellent” physical and mental health. However, the document does not contain any details of vital signs or test results.