Biden has been sick for a while. And the ramifications are endless.
Now Democrats left Biden to fend for himself after cover-up revelations.
Claims of Concealed Cognitive Decline
A new book, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson, released Tuesday, alleges that Biden’s inner circle hid his cognitive decline for years.
The Washington Post editorial board wrote, “It now seems that, for a considerable time, Biden might have lacked the stamina and cognitive capacity the job demands — and that his family and closest aides concealed this from the public.”
The book details memory issues from the 2020 campaign, noting, “From at least 2022, Biden was forgetting the names of his top aides and appearing incoherent at times.”
This follows reports of Biden’s advanced prostate cancer diagnosis, later retracted by his office.
Proposals for Transparency
The editorial board urged Congress to establish oversight to ensure transparency, stating, “Can steps be taken to ensure that voters remain aware of their leaders’ frailties? This is a question for Congress: How should the government respond when a president seems to be operating with diminished faculties?”
They proposed, “Ideally, Congress would create a sober, bipartisan commission to investigate ways to maintain transparency about the president’s health, mental and physical. Perhaps some objective cognitive testing should be required, in addition to a physical examination, with the results made public annually.”
This aims to mitigate risks, as they noted, “The country was fortunate not to have experienced a late-night crisis that he would have had trouble handling. It would be folly to count on such luck in the future.”
Public Duty and Accountability
The board criticized the prioritization of loyalty over duty, writing, “Their apparent decision to put personal loyalties ahead of their duty to the country must be reckoned with. A legal mechanism should be considered to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”
Recent comments by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Monday, stating:
“He did not develop it in the last 100 to 200 days. I don’t think there’s any disagreement about that,” regarding Biden’s alleged cancer, have intensified scrutiny over undisclosed health issues. The editorial calls for systemic changes to maintain public trust.
Addressing Transparency Concerns
The call for a bipartisan commission and mandatory cognitive testing reflects a push for greater accountability, aiming to ensure voters are informed about their leaders’ capacity to govern effectively.
The editorial’s focus on congressional oversight highlights the need for checks to prevent future health-related concealments, potentially shaping how presidential fitness is monitored in future administrations.
