Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) defended his mental acuity and took shots at President Trump during an interview airing Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
Anchor Norah O’Donnell asked Biden about claims from the Trump campaign that he suffers from dementia, a general catch-all medical term for symptoms ranging from memory loss to impairment of problem-solving abilities.
“[You are] 78 years old. [You’ll be] 82 after four years. Donald Trump says you have dementia and it’s getting worse,” O’Donnell told Biden.
“Hey, the same guy who thought that the 9/11 attack was a 7/11 attack,” Biden responded, jokingly. “He’s talking about dementia?”
“All I can say to the American people is watch me, is see what I’ve done, is see what I’m going to do. Look at me,” Biden continued. “Compare our physical and mental acuity. I’m happy to have that comparison.”
The Trump campaign has sought to suggest in recent months that videos showing Biden speaking unclearly at times are evidence of the former vice president’s mental decline. Biden’s campaign has accused the Trump campaign in response of making light of the stutter from which the former vice president has suffered since he was a child. The Trump campaign in an emailed statement directed The Hill to a video in which the former vice president appears to momentarily confuse Trump with former President George W. Bush.
A Biden campaign spokesperson asserted to The Hill in an emailed statement that Biden was actually referring to comedian George Lopez, who was participating in an event with Biden and his wife in the video used by the Trump campaign.
“Did something happen to Joe Biden?” the text of an ad questioning his mental faculties produced by the Trump campaign asked in August.
Biden, who would be the oldest president ever elected, has frequently dismissed criticism on the manner from the Trump campaign. Trump himself was the oldest president ever elected upon his victory in 2016, when he was 70 years old.
“I’ve been tested and I’m constantly tested,” Biden said in June. “Look, all you gotta do is watch me, and I can hardly wait to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man I’m running against.”