Joe Biden's Republican rivals have begun to raise questions about his mental acuity, after the US president's verbal blunder fueled Democrats' concerns about his age.
"Biden will not be any brighter in November," Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Donald Trump's campaign staff, told Voice of America. "Joe Biden is not only senile, he has endangered our national security".
Former US President Trump is leading the Republican nomination race and is likely to become the party's nominee, despite facing 91 felony charges in various federal and state criminal cases.
The election headquarters of Nikki Haley, Trump's party opponent, announced that Biden "should immediately take a mental capacity test" and publish the results.
"Joe Biden can't remember big events in his life, like when he was vice president or when his son died," Haley said. "It's sad, but it will be even sadder if we have a person in the White House who is mentally unfit for the most important job in the world."
Biden's verbal blunder
Republicans launched fresh attacks after the president made a verbal gaffe on Thursday night, mistakenly referring to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi as "the president of Mexico" while highlighting the efforts he has made to provide aid to the people of Gaza.
The gaffe occurred as Biden tried to fend off a reporter's question about the special counsel's report on the mishandling of classified documents, which noted his memory problem and as an example he could not remember certain moments in his life, such as when was serving as vice president or when his son Bo passed away.
"My memory is good," a visibly angry Biden shot back as he denied he had forgotten when his son died. Bo Biden died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.
Three-quarters of voters, including half of Democrats, say they are concerned about Biden's mental and physical health, according to an NBC News poll released this week. According to the same poll, less than half of voters are concerned about Trump's mental and physical health, despite his multiple gaffes.
On the campaign trail earlier this month, Trump mistakenly referred to his rival Haley as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when referring to Jan. 6, 2021. He has previously confused Biden with former President Barack Obama.
No indictment
Special prosecutor Robert Hurr ruled that Biden would not be charged with mishandling classified documents. However, Hur's assessment of the president's memory is likely to provide ammunition to Biden's Republican rivals in their message that he is unfit to lead the country.
Trump, who is under federal indictment on 37 counts of mishandling classified documents, obstruction of justice and making false statements, has stepped up his attack on Biden's case.
He called Biden's case "100 times different and more difficult than mine," charging in a statement Thursday that there were "double standards and unconstitutional selective prosecution" and "election interference."
Hur preempted the report with such claims.
"Unlike the evidence implicating Mr. Biden, the allegations in the indictment against Mr. Trump, if proven, would constitute serious aggravating factors," the report said. "The bottom line is that, after being given multiple chances to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, Mr. Trump allegedly did the opposite."
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