Rep. Ronny Jackson said former President Donald Trump is “incredibly sharp” after critics sought to highlight his recent gaffes on the campaign trail.
The former president, who is running to regain the White House, on Monday took to his Truth Social platform to claim he has intentionally mixed up President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama’s names in speeches.
Trump has confused Obama and Biden at least seven times in recent months, according to Forbes.
The campaigns for Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is trailing Trump in the race for the Republican nomination, have highlighted Trump’s errors on social media. Earlier this month, DeSantis’ campaign highlighted a series of Trump’s “confused moments” in a thread on X, formerly Twitter, writing that it was “why his handlers won’t let him debate.”
Getty Images/Brandon Bell
In an appearance on Fox News on Monday, Jackson, a former White House physician, agreed with host Sean Hannity’s assessment that Trump remained mentally “sharp.”
“There’s no decline. Zero,” Hannity said of the 77-year-old former president.
“Sean, he’s incredibly sharp,” Jackson replied. “He’s got a better memory than I have, than you have. We all know this.”
Jackson had a different view when it came to Biden, who at 81 is the oldest president in U.S. history. Biden’s cognitive decline is “dangerous” and “an embarrassment,” Jackson said.
Newsweek has contacted Jackson for further comment via email. The Trump and Biden campaigns have also been contacted for comment via email.
In his Truth Social post on Monday, Trump took a jab at DeSantis.
“Whenever I sarcastically insert the name Obama for Biden as an indication that others may actually be having a very big influence in running our Country, Ron DeSanctimonious and his failing campaign apparatus, together with the Democrat’s Radical Left ‘Disinformation Machine,’ go wild saying that ‘Trump doesn’t know the name of our President, (CROOKED!) Joe Biden. He must be cognitively impaired.’ No, I know both names very well, never mix them up, and know that they are destroying our Country,” Trump wrote.
He also boasted that he “ACED” a cognitive test as part of his recent physical exam.
“Biden should take one so we can determine why he wants Open Borders, No Energy Independence, A Woke Military, High Inflation, No Voter I.D., Men playing In Women’s Sports, Only Electric Cars & Trucks, A Weaponized DOJ/FBI, and so many other CRAZY things!!!” Trump added.
Biden’s gaffes and physical stumbles have bolstered concerns that he is too old to run for a second term.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in mid-September found 77 percent of respondents, including 65 percent of Democrats, said he is too old to be president, while just 39 percent said Biden was mentally sharp enough for the presidency. By comparison, 56 percent of respondents said Trump is too old for the office, while 54 percent said he was mentally sharp enough for the presidency.
Meanwhile, a poll by The Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in August found most Democrats say both Biden and Trump are too old for another term, while Republicans tend to say that Biden is too old, but Trump is not.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.