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CNN’s chief medical correspondent has called for Joe Biden to undergo “detailed cognitive and movement disorder testing” after observing the president’s “concerning” behavior in recent weeks.
Dr Sanjay Gupta said that following Biden’s disastrous performance in last week’s debate against Donald Trump, he had received “dozens” of calls and messages from fellow medical professionals.
“From a neurological standpoint, we were concerned with his confused rambling; sudden loss of concentration in the middle of a sentence; halting speech and absence of facial animation, resulting at times in a flat, open-mouthed expression,” Gupta wrote in an article for CNN.
“To be clear, these are only observations, not in any way diagnostic of something deeper, and none of these doctors wished to suggest that was the case.
“The consensus from the doctors reaching out to me, however, was that the president should be encouraged to undergo detailed cognitive and movement disorder testing, and those results should be made available to the public.”
Biden was given a brief medical examination by his physician following the debate last week. In a call to several prominent Democratic governors this week he told them he was in good health, but that would ideally want to finish his working days by 8pm.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre relayed earlier this week that the president’s medical team had said a cognitive test on the 81-year-old had not been necessary.
Biden’s team said he had had a “bad night” during the debate, later claiming that he had been suffering from a cold but had not taken any medication. The president also blamed his heavy travel schedule in the previous weeks.
However, despite his reassurances, senior members of the Democratic party have raised concerns.
“It’s a legitimate question” whether Biden’s debate performance was an “episode” or a “condition,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during an MSNBC interview on Tuesday.
This, Gupta said, was why detailed testing is important – to determine whether there is a simpler explanation for the symptoms displayed by the president, or if there is a more concerning reason.
“As a doctor, I would want to understand the possibility of underlying dementia because, over the past several years, we have learned that there are medical treatments and lifestyle changes that can delay and, in some cases, even reverse the symptoms of the disease,” he wrote.
It comes as Biden held a rally in Wisconsin on Friday, ahead of the broadcast of a major interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos which, he hopes could help reset his 2024 re-election campaign and reassure voters.
