Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump should take physical and mental fitness tests ahead of November’s election.
“Both candidates owe whatever test you want to put them to, in terms of their mental acuity and their health — both of them,” Pelosi said in an interview on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports Tuesday.
She said that it was fair to ask if Biden’s disastrous debate performance last week was an “episode” or a “condition.”
“When people ask that question [it is] legitimate,” Pelosi said.
She defended Biden in the aftermath of the debate Sunday, telling CNN host Dana Bash that Biden had a “bad night” but a “great presidency.”
“We know how attuned he is to the issues, we know how informed he is. I debate with him about the issues, not debate, but discuss it with him. He’s right there,” she said.
Pelosi praised Biden’s track record and “strategic thinking,” but said she has heard mixed feedback from elected Democrats about whether Biden should drop out of the presidential race.
“Some people are saying because Donald Trump is such an authoritarian and autocrat, we have to win this election,” she said. “This is not a normal election where you want to win, if you don’t, you cooperate and do the best you can for the country and hope to win the next time. This is something that is undermining our democracy. He must be stopped. He cannot be president. Therefore, people are very concerned.”
“It’s going to be up to Joe Biden to do what he thinks,” Pelosi said. “There is no more patriotic person in our country than the president of — this president of the United States.”
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Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first elected Democrat to publicly call on Biden to step down as the Democratic nominee, writing on Tuesday that he hoped Biden would “make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw.”
The Democratic National Convention, where Biden is expected to be confirmed as his party’s nominee, will be held Aug. 19-22.