Former White House senior medical adviser Anthony Fauci assured Wednesday that President Joe Biden was fine as he slipped in a plug for his new book on CBS News’ “The Takeout.”
Biden alarmed viewers as he noticeably stumbled and spoke with a raspy voice during the first 2024 presidential debate Thursday evening. Despite two aides claiming the president had a cold while facing off against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, Fauci brushed off Biden’s debate performance as “a bad night” before sneaking in two mentions of his newly released memoir, “On Call.”
“It just looked like a bad night because my interaction with him was what I described in the book. And what happened even subsequent to what I described in the book after I got out,” Fauci said.
“You know, he’s very probing his questions,” Fauci continued. “Very analytical. Very calm about things. When you go in to brief him, Major, you better really know your topic. Because he’s going to ask you very relevant questions. And he’s very reflective on things and just doesn’t jump out with conclusions or anything. But is very analytic. So, my interactions with him with him, I have to say, have been very, very positive.” (RELATED: DNC Member Lays Out Biden Replacement Plan That ‘Solves’ Kamala Harris, ‘Chaos’ Problems)
Dr. Fauci tells @MajorCBS that he has “no doubt” President Biden has the mental capacity and vigor to carry on with his office, despite a shaky performance during last week’s debate with former President Donald Trump.
Full episode with Dr. Fauci on @TakeoutPodcast will be… pic.twitter.com/lVpwjNYcVP
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 2, 2024
CBS News’ Major Garrett continued to press Fauci on whether Biden’s debate performance “medically alarmed” the former White House senior medical adviser. Fauci told Garrett that it would be “inappropriate” to speculate on Biden’s health just by looking at him.
“Did you see the debate?” Garrett asked.
“I did,” Fauci responded.
“Did anything about that, what you saw, medically alarm you?” the CBS correspondent questioned.
“You know, I can’t say,” Fauci told Garrett. “I think it would be inappropriate to say that, Major, because when you’re just looking at someone on a one-shot basis, you just don’t know what could happen.”
“Did he have a bad cold?” Fauci continued. “You know, did he, an, uh, an antihistamine to make him groggy or what have you? We don’t know what went on. And I think it would be unfair and inappropriate to try and diagnose something from just a 90-minute clip.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed boiling concerns regarding Biden’s cognitive ability Wednesday afternoon. She blamed Biden’s debate performance on “a cold” and “jetlag” as she was pelted with questions, including one by Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich who asked why the president went to the Waffle House while he was supposedly sick and tired.
