The former White House physician to Barack Obama has revealed that the ex-president reprimanded him after he dared to question the cognitive abilities of Joe Biden.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) wrote in his memoir, which is titled “Holding the Line: A Lifetime of Defending Democracy and American Values,” that he received a stern email from Obama after he called out then-presidential candidate Biden’s “crazy statements and concerning mental gaffes.” Jackson had also served as the White House physician to both George W. Bush and Donald Trump, making him uniquely qualified to make this statement.
“Biden was on TV again, making crazy statements and concerning mental gaffes; he didn’t know what state he was in or what office he was campaigning for,” Jackson recalled of the 2020 campaign trail, according to Fox News [1]. “He apparently thought at one point that he was running for the Senate and later couldn’t remember what state he was campaigning in. This had been going on for months and was getting worse.”
Though the media had questioned Trump’s cognitive abilities for years, Jackson found that he was in “excellent” mental shape and “had absolutely no cognitive or mental issues whatsoever.”
“Trump never made crazy statements like the ones Biden was making almost every day, but these people were jumping up and down: ‘He’s not fit to be president; he needs a cognitive test!’” Jackson wrote.
When Jackson was running for Congress back in 2020, he retweeted a video of Biden’s “latest cognitive misadventure” along with the caption, “Remember the cognitive test that I gave @realDonaldTrump? The one he aced! Sounds like somebody else might need some testing done!! Scary!!”
Jackson revealed that within 20 minutes of posting this tweet, he received a “scathing” email from Obama.
“I have made a point of not commenting on your service in my successor’s administration and have always spoken highly of you both in public and in private,” Obama wrote. “You always served me and my family well, and I have considered you not only a fine doctor and service member but also a friend.”
“That’s why I have to express my disappointment at the cheap shot you took at Joe Biden via Twitter,” Obama continued. “It was unprofessional and beneath the office that you once held. It was also disrespectful to me and the many friends you had in our administration. You were the personal physician to the President of the United States as well as an admiral in the U.S. Navy. I expect better, and I hope upon reflection that you will expect more of yourself in the future.”
Jackson was shocked by the email, and ended up deciding not to respond to it. The political commentator Dan Bongino later reminded him that Obama had done nothing when Jackson was in the middle of a Senate confirmation fight to be Trump’s secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“So, upon reflection, I thought, You know what? Screw that guy! I’m not doing it,” Jackson wrote. “I just walked away from it, which was the last time I had any contact with [Obama].”
Jackson later told reporters that “it’s awfully ironic now, considering [Biden’s mental fitness] is all anyone, including the liberal media, can talk about.”
“Let it be known, as the White House physician for the last three presidents, I was the first to say that we have a serious problem with this man’s cognitive demise, and he will not make it four years in office,” he added. “I’ve always said there would come a point where it wouldn’t be just me talking about it, but his own party, and sadly, that has proven to be the case. Joe Biden’s cognitive failures are on full display for the whole world to see.”
You can read more about this in Jackson’s memoir, which is set to be released on July 26.