This week, news that Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) is living in a nursing home and experiencing a “very rapid” decline sparked an outcry on social media across the political spectrum.
Those voices included billionaire Elon Musk, a key advisor and supporter of President-elect Donald Trump.
“Shouldn't we be conducting basic cognitive tests on our elected officials? This is crazy…” Musk said, referring to the news about Granger.
Former Education Department spokeswoman Angela Morabito said Granger's staff may have been “complicit.”
“Wow: Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), who hasn't voted on a bill in six months, is secretly living in a nursing home. Records show she has 25 staff members. If anyone knows, and it would be difficult not to know, they are accomplices,” Morabito said in X.
Former Texas Congressman Jonathan Stickland also commented on Granger, expressing awareness of her memory issues.
“No one should be angry at Sen. Kay Granger. Six years ago (when I worked with her or around her regularly as an elected official) it was clear that she had severe memory problems. I didn't know what was going on, but her friend. The people, the family, the staff lied to her. They failed to protect her and left her in the administration for their own benefit. Mad at them. Praying for peace,” Stickland posted.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee said the news about Granger was “a compelling case for term limits.”
Granger's absence was first reported Friday by the Dallas Express, which cited a constituent in her district as saying she was residing in a memory care facility in Texas.
Hans Nichols, a political reporter for Axios, acknowledged on Monday that he missed the story about Granger because of the limited resources of CNN's journalists.
“[We] …Reporting all these stories has limited resources and time. That being said, I had to get Kay Granger's story. So, as someone who spends time on the Hill, I'm going to own a piece of it. You know, collectively we're all guilty. You know, it's hard to parse guilt as an individual,” Nichols said.
Granger's story comes after a year defined by President Biden's cognitive and mental health issues, which ultimately led to his ouster from the Democratic nomination. Reports are emerging of an organized effort to hide his decline from the public.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who has repeatedly dismissed questions about Biden's job performance, told CNN in June 2022 that she, too, had difficulty keeping up with the president.
“Don, you're asking me this question,” exclaimed a visibly stunned Jean-Pierre. “Oh my god. He's the President of the United States.”
Kylie Jane Kremer, executive director of Women for America First, wrote of X: As angry as we are about Biden, we should be equally angry about Kay Granger. ”
A new report in the Wall Street Journal says Biden's staff noticed his physical decline and increasing confusion within the first few months of his term.
The newspaper based its report on interviews with about 50 people, including current and former White House staff and members of Congress, who had direct contact with the president.
Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said on the X Show that there is a “sclerotic gerontocracy” in Congress.
“Kay Granger's long absence reveals a problem with a Congress that values seniority and relationships over merit and ideas. We have a sclerotic longevity society. We need term limits. A new generation. We need to get big money out of politics so more Americans can run and serve,” Khan posted.
progressive independent journalist Ken Klippenstein posted, referring to a video of Granger speaking on the House floor in early 2024.
“Congresswoman Kay Granger's claim that no one knew about her dementia is laughable. Here she is speaking in Parliament in March, relying verbatim from the written manuscript and stammering every sentence. , stumbling and speaking. This is painful to watch,” Klippenstein said.
Granger, 81, is not seeking re-election and will retire at the end of his parliamentary term next month. She has been largely absent from the Capitol in recent months, last voting on July 24. This year, he was absent from more than 54% of the votes cast. He also resigned from his position on the House Appropriations Committee, which drafts legislation to fund the federal government.
