This is like the AOC memes on steroids, and it will only get worse.
uring a town hall on Fox News Thursday night, Trump once again alluded to the idea that Biden is unfit for office. While the lies about the Bidens and Burisma will likely continue, the Daily Caller reports that this new line of attack will be a focus for Republicans and the Trump campaign.
This issue, however, is not simply being raised by Trump and his enablers. Steve Friess reports that a memo about Biden’s “cognitive decline” is circulating among Sanders’ supporters.
All of this feels very familiar. During the 2016 election, both Trump and the Sanders camp attempted to paint Hillary Clinton as corrupt. Now, both sides have teamed up on an attack against Biden.
We’ve all watched Biden stumble with words during debates and extemporaneous speeches. So as people committed to examining facts and evidence, it is important to gather what we know about this particular attack and not simply dismiss it because of the sources from which it is emanating.
The first thing that is important to do is to define the terms. Here is how the Mayo Clinic defines cognitive impairment.
Brandy X. Lee, one of the mental health professionals who has been very vocal about Trump’s unfitness for office, explained why a declination to diagnose Biden is in keeping with professional standards.
UPDATE 3/8/20: As this disinformation campaign grows, more people are weighing in. Here is an informative thread from Twitter:
The Disinformation Campaign Being Launched Against Biden | Washington Monthly
There is no data to support the allegation that he is in cognitive decline.
washingtonmonthly.com
uring a town hall on Fox News Thursday night, Trump once again alluded to the idea that Biden is unfit for office. While the lies about the Bidens and Burisma will likely continue, the Daily Caller reports that this new line of attack will be a focus for Republicans and the Trump campaign.
This issue, however, is not simply being raised by Trump and his enablers. Steve Friess reports that a memo about Biden’s “cognitive decline” is circulating among Sanders’ supporters.
The message is obviously getting out there.
All of this feels very familiar. During the 2016 election, both Trump and the Sanders camp attempted to paint Hillary Clinton as corrupt. Now, both sides have teamed up on an attack against Biden.
We’ve all watched Biden stumble with words during debates and extemporaneous speeches. So as people committed to examining facts and evidence, it is important to gather what we know about this particular attack and not simply dismiss it because of the sources from which it is emanating.
The first thing that is important to do is to define the terms. Here is how the Mayo Clinic defines cognitive impairment.
The second piece of evidence to consider is that in December, Biden released a three-page summary of his medical history in which “his doctor declared he is a ‘healthy, vigorous’ 77-year-old fully capable of taking on the role of president.” Here is what Stuart Jay Olshansky, a professor of public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago who analyzes the longevity of presidents, said about cognitive abilities after reviewing the report.
In the January/February issue of The Atlantic, John Hendrickson writes that “[Biden’s] verbal stumbles have voters worried about his mental fitness. Maybe they’d be more understanding if they knew he’s still fighting a stutter.”
As a stutterer himself, Hendrickson critiques Biden for suggesting that he overcame his stutter.
That is the data we have available about Joe Biden’s cognitive capabilities. What it all comes down to is that there is an alternative explanation for his verbal stumbles and his medical records did not indicate a cognitive impairment.
Brandy X. Lee, one of the mental health professionals who has been very vocal about Trump’s unfitness for office, explained why a declination to diagnose Biden is in keeping with professional standards.
Here is how another mental health professional described the comparison to David Knowles.
We are about to be subjected to a massive disinformation campaign against Joe Biden, and this one will be particularly pernicious. But for those of us who are fact-based, it is important to keep in mind that there is no data to support the allegations that are being made.
UPDATE 3/8/20: As this disinformation campaign grows, more people are weighing in. Here is an informative thread from Twitter: