Letter to President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. - Congressman Lamborn Urges Joe Biden to Take Cognitive Test

Letter

Dear President Biden,
February 8, 2022
We again write to you to express concern with your current cognitive state. We believe that, regardless of gender, age, or political party, all Presidents should follow the example set by former President Trump to document and demonstrate sound mental abilities. While you underwent your annual physical exam on November 19, 2021, you either did not have a cognitive test or those results were withheld from the public. White House Physician Kevin O'Connor, D.O., attested to you being "fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency" in a purely physical manner; however, we are worried about your cognitive and mental abilities.1
As you may remember, several Members of Congress sent you a letter on this issue in June of last year, to which you have not replied. Since then, the American people have continuously lost faith in your ability to effectively and competently handle your duties as President of the United States. This is reflected by recent polling2 which shows that:
* 48% of voters disagree with the statement that you are mentally fit, with only 46% agreeing and representing a 19-point change from October 2020.
* Independents, by a margin of 23 points, do not believe you are mentally fit.
* 50% of voters disagree with the statement that you are "in good health," which represents a 29-
point shift since October 2020.
The Alzheimer's Association lists "changes in mood and personality," including being more "easily upset" as one of ten signs of mental decline. You displayed this type of mood change during a cabinet meeting on January 24, 2022, when you apparently did not know your microphone was on after finishing your opening remarks, and you called a White House reporter a "stupid son of a b****" in response to a question asked on inflation.
Further, in a December 16, 2021, press conference with the White House COVID-19 response team, you appeared to be unable to read the numbers in front of you. When attempting to announce the total number of the population who had received a booster shot, you said, "57... excuse me... 570... I don't want to read it, I'm not sure I got the right number..." before being corrected by Dr. Anthony Fauci with the right statistic of 57 million.3
This is not just a recent trend, as your mental decline and forgetfulness have become more apparent over the past two years. On the campaign trail, you often forgot the names of states that you were in for campaign rallies. The Alzheimer's Association points out "confusion with time or place" as another of the ten signs and symptoms of mental decline.4 In February 2021, you publicly forgot the purpose of your visit to survey the winter storm damage in Texas.5 In March 2021, you forgot the name of the Pentagon, the Department of Defense, and the Defense Secretary.6 Lastly, in May 2021, you told a story from your tenure as Vice President in which you stated that you regularly visited your sick mother via Amtrak in 2013, even though she passed away in 2010.
The American people should have absolute confidence in their President. They deserve to know that he or she can perform the duties of Head of State and Commander-in-Chief. They deserve full transparency on the mental capabilities of their highest elected leader. To achieve this, we urge you to submit to a cognitive test immediately. We implore you to then publish the test results, so the American people know the full mental and intellectual health of their President, and to follow the example set before you.
This is not an unprecedented request. Starting in 2018, political opponents and members of the media clamored for your predecessor, then-President Trump, to take a cognitive test. In response, the White House Physician conducted a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) for President Trump, at which he excelled.
According to Dr. Ziad Nasreddine, the neurologist who created the test, MOCA is a simple screening tool to identify early signs of mental impairment.7 Dr. Nasreddine said the test is best administered when a person or their loved ones "start noticing mental decline." This particularly includes forgetfulness on ordinary tasks, which you have clearly exhibited throughout your tenure. We believe that a MOCA should be a routine part of any physical examination for every President going forward.
This is also not a partisan issue. As Democrat Representative Jamie Raskin previously pointed out, with many politicians and the population at-large growing older, "it's not hard to think that there will be future situations where the President's physical and mental state may create issues for us."8 At the time of this quote, Representative Raskin introduced legislation to establish an independent commission that would examine a President's fitness for office and determine "whether the President is mentally or physically unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office."
We agree with these statements. As such, we encourage you to follow the example set by President Trump, by undergoing a cognitive test as soon as possible and immediately making the results available for the American people.