Joe Biden’s top staff debated the possibility of the embattled Democratic president taking a cognitive test last year as he geared up for re-election but eventually decided against the idea, a new book is set to reveal.
Debate around Biden’s mental acuity and his age was an acute issue during the run up to the 2024 election, which eventually saw Biden step down from his re-election campaign in favor of his vice-president, Kamala Harris.
Now a new book by three senior US political journalists called 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America has revealed that Biden’s aides seriously discussed a cognitive test, reported the New York Times – one of whose journalists is an author of the book.
“Biden’s aides were confident that he would pass a cognitive test, according to the book, but they worried that the mere fact of his taking one would raise new questions about his mental abilities,” the paper said.
The book reported that the discussion took place in February 2024. No such test was taken in the end.
However, that summer Biden turned in a poor debate performance against Donald Trump that shocked voters and his fellow Democrats. Eventually, amid intense pressure to step down, Biden stood aside for Harris. Harris then went on to lose the presidential election to Trump, ushering in the former reality TV star and real estate mogul’s second term.
