A top Democratic lawmaker has defended President Biden’s mental fitness amid growing concerns about his age and recent gaffes. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., admitted to NBC in a Friday interview that Biden is not the same person as he was four years ago but asserted that he is still “mentally” fit with one of the “best minds” he’s ever worked with.
“You’re traveling with him next week, you’ve spent more time with the president than just about anybody else in the House, is this the same Joe Biden that we saw two years ago?” interviewer Craig Melvin asked Clyburn, who had endorsed Biden in the 2020 presidential race.
“Well, look, I grew up in…” Clyburn started to say before he was asked again, “Is it the same Joe Biden?”
“No,” Clyburn said emphatically, adding that, “I’m not the same Jim Clyburn that I was four years ago.”
Clyburn later said he doesn’t think Biden, physically, is the same as he was during the last presidential election cycle.
“Mentally, I do think so,” Clyburn declared. “He is still grasping what this country is all about.” “He has one of the best minds that I have ever been around. The people who’ve been around him will tell you that, and so I would hope that we will focus on the substance of this man, rather than these sometimes, misspoken words and phrases, and how he has run this country.”
Biden faced a wave of mockery online Thursday after he introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin” ahead of his press conference. During the conference, Biden also referred to his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, as his vice-president.
The president was peppered with questions from reporters who pressed him on whether he would step aside amid mounting pressure from members within his own party following his disastrous debate performance last month. Biden dismissed the notion he’s “slowing down” and insisted he was “determined on running” in this year’s election.
