President Joe Biden’s penchant for making verbal missteps and seeming confused in public has led to growing questions around his cognitive health.
However, Biden administration press secretary Jen Psaki recently had to defend the mental state of another high-profile Democrat.
Biden said to be confident in Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s mental abilities
According to the Washington Times, Psaki was asked on Monday whether Biden continues to have confidence in California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s ability to serve.
“Yes, she’s a longtime friend, a proud public servant, and someone he has long enjoyed serving with and working with,” Psaki was quoted as saying in response.
The Washington Examiner reported last week that the 88-year-old Democratic lawmaker had a conference call with the San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board in which she dismissed charges of senility.
“I meet regularly with leaders,” Feinstein told the editors. “I’m not isolated. I see people. My attendance is good. I put in the hours. We represent a huge state. And so I’m rather puzzled by all of this.”
Report suggests that Feinstein is experiencing cognitive decline
The Examiner noted that Feinstein’s comments came following an article from the paper which alleged that the elderly senator is experiencing regular memory loss.
The piece’s author spoke with four of Feinstein’s Senate colleagues and three former staffers, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.
One lawmaker recalled having the same conversation with Feinstein over the course of several hours, with her appearing to forget the details of each exchange.
“I have worked with her for a long time and long enough to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, on top of the details, basically couldn’t resist a conversation where she was driving some bill or some idea,” the senator recalled.
“All of that is gone. She was an intellectual and political force not that long ago, and that’s why my encounter with her was so jarring — because there was just no trace of that.”
Meanwhile, another legislator agreed that Feinstein’s mental prowess is continuing to diminish, complaining, “It’s bad, and it’s getting worse.”