Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said in an interview Wednesday that “I don’t think it would hurt” for President Biden to take a cognitive ability test amid concerns about his status as the Democratic nominee for the White House.
“I don’t see the harm, honestly,” Whitmer told CNN’s Abby Phillips when asked if Biden should “take a cognitive test and require Donald Trump to do the same.”
When asked by Phillips to clarify again whether she thought Biden should get tested, Whitmer reiterated, “I don’t think there’s any harm in that.”
Biden’s dismal performance in the debate at the end of last month and a series of reports of his approval ratings dropping in recent months have led to growing calls for him to take a cognitive test and make the results public.
Concerns were further heightened when public records revealed that a neurologist specializing in Parkinson’s disease had visited the White House. The administration has sinceSaidThe doctor in question served as a neurological consultant at the White House Medical Unit for over 10 years.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has called on both Biden and Trump to take cognitive tests, and former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has also suggested such tests should be mandatory for politicians over a certain age.
Whitmer, who serves as national co-chair of the Biden-Harris reelection campaign, acknowledged in an interview Wednesday that Biden’s performance in the first debate was “certainly” not a huge success, but insisted that Biden remains “a happy warrior working for the American people.”
“He goes to work every day, he fights for the American people, he cares about other people before he cares about himself,” the governor, who has also emerged as a possible successor to Biden if he withdraws, said in an interview. “That’s why I think in this moment where we have Donald Trump, a man convicted of 34 felonies, who is only thinking about Donald Trump, we can’t lose sight of how high the stakes are.”
“We have a candidate. Unless Joe Biden decides otherwise, this is the candidate and we have to run,” she added.
Whitmer, who has pushed back against calls to replace Biden, also suggested Wednesday that she would not rule out being Vice President Harris’ running mate if she becomes the top choice.
Since the debate, nearly a dozen Democrats have publicly called for Biden to resign, including Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont, who on Wednesday became the first Senate Democrat to do so. At least nine Democrats in the House of Representatives have done the same.
At the same time, many Democrats have doubled down on their support that the president is the legitimate candidate chosen by the American people, a message Biden himself has stressed.
