President Joe Biden said in an interview with ABC News on Friday that he hasn’t undergone a specific cognitive evaluation, adding, “Nobody told me I had to, and I was told I was OK.” He also declined to submit to an independent cognitive evaluation, saying he “already has” one because “I get cognitive tests every day.”
ABC host George Stephanopoulos asked, “Have you had a thorough neurological and cognitive evaluation?”
Biden responded: “I undergo a full neurological exam every day. I undergo a full physical exam. I undergo a physical exam at Walter Reed Hospital. So, yes. The answer is…”
Stephanopoulos then interjected: “You said your doctor consulted with a neurologist. I think I’m asking a slightly different question here – did you undergo specific cognitive testing, did you see a neurologist or a specialist?”
Biden responded: “No. Nobody’s telling me I have to do that. Nobody’s telling me I’m OK with it.”
Stephanopoulos then asked, “Would you be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation, including neurological and cognitive testing, and make the results of that evaluation available to the American people?”
Biden responded: “Look, I take cognitive tests every day. I take them every day, in everything I do. Not just campaigning, but running the world. This may sound like an exaggeration, but we are the center of the world. Madeleine Albright was right. And every day, like today, before I came here, I’m on the phone with the prime minister — and I don’t want to go into specifics, anyway — with Netanyahu. I’m on the phone with the new prime minister of the UK. We’re working on what we’re going to do in Europe with regards to expanding NATO and whether it will continue. I’m taking on Putin. So there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t have decisions to make.”
Stephanopoulos continued: “You have done so, and the American public is watching. And yet there is growing public concern about your age and your health. So, to reassure the public, I am asking if you would be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation.”
“There’s still a lot of time left in the campaign, so I hope you’ll keep an eye on me in the meantime,” Biden said. [are] It will take more than 125 days. They will make a decision.”
Stephanopoulos pressed further: “So the answer right now is no, you don’t want to do that right now?”
Biden responded, “No. I already did that.”
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