Biden jokes with Nadler about ‘cognitively impaired’ comments

After his fiery State of the Union address, President Biden joked about Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York calling him “cognitively impaired.”

After the speeches, the two Democratic members spoke on the House floor along with other Democratic members.

“No one is going to talk about ‘cognitive impairment’ right now,” Nadler told Biden.

Mr. Biden laughed and replied, “Sometimes I wish I had cognitive impairment.”

The president was asked to come to the speech saying he was mentally alert and full of energy to reassure voters ahead of November.

Polls show Americans think the 81-year-old president is too old for the job, and Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on the handling of classified documents says he is an elderly man with memory loss. These concerns were further heightened by this mention.

Biden used his bully pulpit on Thursday to go after former President Trump, harping on the issues that will shape the general election race throughout his speech, which lasted just over an hour.

The speech, sometimes mistaken for a campaign speech, touched on the war in Ukraine, threats to democracy, the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and threats to access to abortion and reproductive health care.