Rep. Greg Murphy, who, along with almost 40 House Republicans, has signed a letter calling for President Joe Biden to undergo a full cognitive exam, insisted Thursday on Newsmax that the matter is one of national security, not partisan politics.
"It's a very bipartisan issue," the North Carolina Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "The president is the leader of our country. He's the commander in chief. Having the trust of the American people, and for people to believe that he is mentally fit to do his duties, should be important to every single American."
"We believe that, regardless of gender, age, or political party, all presidents should follow the example set by former President [Donald] Trump to document and demonstrate sound mental abilities," the lawmakers said in the letter sent to the White House Wednesday. It was led by Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, a White House doctor under both Trump and former President Barack Obama.
"While you underwent your annual physical exam on November 19, 2021, you either did not have a cognitive test or those results were withheld from the public," the letter added. "White House Physician Kevin O’Connor, D.O., attested to you being ‘fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency’ in a purely physical manner; however, we are worried about your cognitive and mental abilities."
"The progressive left clamored and screamed until Trump took a test," Murphy said Thursday. "He took it and passed and apparently did very, very well. It is not unreasonable, given the gaffes that President Biden has made, you know when he comes and whispers into a crowd, or does some of the other things which are bizarre behavior, to say, Hey, just put this on the line and let us know what's going on. It's not unreasonable at all."
However, Murphy said he does not think the administration will address the issue, because "what this administration has done since day one is deflect."
"Look at our border," he continued. "Look at all the other crises going on in the country."
It's also not unreasonable to expect Biden, at 80, to be suffering some mental decline, said Murphy. "This is the most important job in the world, and it should be in every American's interest to make sure that the commander in chief is there completely and knows what he's doing, whether we agree with it or not," he added.
Murphy, who is also a doctor, stressed that a cognitive test is not difficult and only takes a short time to answer questions that mainly have to do with memory, including short-term recall, which is affected more by cognitive decline and dementia.
The congressman also discussed the growing number of states that are reversing course on mask mandates, commenting that Democrats "are saying the sky is falling on them, and they realized that they have to start trying to do something to reverse the trend."
Murphy added that as a doctor, he wishes he could say masks have changed the course of the disease and acknowledged that "perhaps they delayed the inevitable in some regards," if not enough.
"Maybe the N-95 masks decreased things by about 6%, but we know that these paper masks, these cloth masks do absolutely nothing, especially to our children, causing acne and then causing all the other social issues that have happened," said Murphy. "They just need to go away. They become a sign of virtue signaling, and I've said this before: I think these masks are a sign of a failed presidency."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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