CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said he believes, based on President Joe Biden’s dismal June 27 debate performance, that he should “undergo detailed cognitive and movement disorder testing.”
In a Friday piece for CNN, the neurosurgeon wrote that he and more than a dozen colleagues that he’s been in touch with were “concerned with [Biden’s] confused rambling; sudden loss of concentration in the middle of a sentence; halting speech and absence of facial animation, resulting at times in a flat, open-mouthed expression.”
“To be clear, these are only observations, not in any way diagnostic of something deeper, and none of these doctors wished to suggest that was the case,” Gupta added.
“The consensus from the doctors reaching out to me, however, was that the president should be encouraged to undergo detailed cognitive and movement disorder testing, and those results should be made available to the public,” he wrote.
In a Friday CNN interview, Gupta said, “I think a lot of the things people saw at the debate weren’t necessarily new, but they were sustained, and I think more pronounced than what we had seen in the past. I think that’s what really provoked the essay.”
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The doctor listed slow response time, word retrieval mixups, rambling speech, reduced voice volume and reduced facial movements as indications of a potential problem for the 81-year-old Biden.
One instance that received a lot of media coverage was when the president gave a rambling, incoherent answer about health care ending with, “We finally beat Medicare.”
BIDEN: “…with the COVID.. excuse me.. dealing with.. everything we have to do with.. look.. if… we finally beat, Medicare.”
TRUMP: “He’s right. He did beat Medicare. He’s destroying Medicare.” pic.twitter.com/jgVCpXUhWZ
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) June 28, 2024
Gupta noted that the White House has blamed Biden’s “bad night” on working late nights, jet lag and having a cold.
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“Those things can cause temporary brain fog,” the physician said, but added the issue still is “Are we looking at episodes of something, or is this a condition that should be more fully investigated? And it really seems to be more of the latter.”
Gupta referenced a Biden medical report from February that the White House has cited, indicating Biden does not have neurological problems such as Parkinson’s disease, as some have speculated.
“Parkinson’s disease … might explain his stiff gait and decreased expression in his face,” Gupta wrote in his CNN essay. “Although Parkinson’s disease is the most common cause of parkinsonism — a set of movement symptoms such as stiffness and tremor –- there are other causes as well, and it was not clear in the medical report that those had been investigated.”
He contended that “detailed testing is important. It can help determine whether there is a simpler explanation for the symptoms displayed or if there is something more concerning.”
Gupta pointed out in his essay and interview that former President Donald Trump’s doctors have said he took and passed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which offers a baseline screening for potential neurological problems.
The neurosurgeon recommended Biden receive the same test, but also more detailed assessments.
Following his debate performance, the president has been facing increasing calls not to seek another term.
