Joe Biden was said to have undergone a medical check-up after last week’s debate as he revealed the prognosis to a group of 20 governors, sources say.
The 81-year-old president was reportedly probed about his health by a senior Democrat as concerns grow over his mental fitness in the wake of his faltering performance at the first debate of the 2024 election on Thursday – which the president blamed on both a cold and jet lag.
Three senior Democrats have either publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race for the White House or predicted that he will lose on polling day. The polls have also tipped in favor of Donald Trump, who has taken a six-point lead over the Democratic presidential candidate.
During Wednesday’s meeting, which lasted an hour, the president declared that he was in good health following the appointment, two people who attended the meeting told Politico. The statement was preceded by Biden visibly knocking on wood, they said.
A person familiar with the president’s schedule claimed he had partaken in a brief, non-exhaustive check-up days after the debate due to his cold symptoms, adding that it included no major tests.
Biden’s announcement came just hours after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged reporters’ questions as they asked whether the president had been examined by medical professionals since last week’s debate.
“The president has regular annual physicals that we release in a thorough report,” she said, adding: “We’re going to continue to do that.”
On Tuesday, The Independent’s White House correspondent Andrew Feinberg grilled Jean-Pierre, asking her about rumors that Biden has dementia. She denied that the president has any form of degenerative brain disease, adding that she hoped the same question would be put forward to Trump’s campaign.
Jean-Pierre attested that Biden “did not have a great night” on the evening that he took on Trump in Atlanta, Georgia, adding the caveat that he “knows how to deliver for the American people.”
The sentiment has been echoed by first lady Jill Biden, who after the debate told Vogue that “those 90 minutes” should not “define the four years he’s been president.”
Wednesday’s meeting marked Biden’s latest effort to prove to his divided Democrat camp that he is fighting fit and ready for another four years in office.
Hours before his health update, the president joined a Zoom video call with campaign and Democratic National Committee staff, pledging that “no one’s pushing me out,” another source told Politico.
Biden is scheduled to appear on the ABC News channel’s World News Tonight at 8pm (ET) on Friday, with George Stephanopoulos chairing the make-or-break interview.