'I'm A Little Uncomfortable...': Kirby Asked Point Blank About President Biden's Cognitive Abilities

4 months ago

At a White House press briefing on Monday, Admiral John Kirby was asked about the president's cognitive abilities.

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Transcript

00:00The Press Just want to circle back, Admiral,

00:02on Ed's question.

00:03So you said broadly that the President, in your view,

00:06is not represented by what was on the debate stage.

00:09Then you gave us an anecdote about a meeting today where he

00:12was engaged and so forth.

00:13Are you saying you have never encountered a situation where

00:16you thought that he was displaying any of those

00:19symptoms or affectations or something that would give pause?

00:25Or are you just declining to answer one way or another?

00:28Well, I'm a little uncomfortable answering these kinds of

00:30questions because, as a spokesman,

00:31my job is to be an advisor and counselor,

00:34and I don't think it's appropriate for a spokesman to

00:37answer.

00:38I did because I wanted to make it clear.

00:40So, yes, I'm uncomfortable with these kinds of questions.

00:42But to answer your specific question,

00:46in my experience the last two and a half years,

00:48I have not seen any reason whatsoever to question or doubt

00:55his lucidity, his grasp of context,

00:58his probing nature, and the degree to which he is completely

01:03in charge of facts and figures.

01:05And if he isn't, what I've seen is – because it happened to me

01:09this morning – when he isn't, and when I can't be in command

01:13of those facts and figures, I have to fess up and go get the

01:16information that he's asking for.

01:18And he asked me some questions this morning I didn't have

01:19answers for.

01:20Okay.

01:21Nadia.

01:22Thank you.

01:23Two questions on the Middle East.

'I'm A Little Uncomfortable...': Kirby Asked Point Blank About President Biden's Cognitive Abilities

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