Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, questioned President Joe Biden's fitness for office, despite his service as a physician having also undergone scrutiny during the Obama and Trump administrations. "Biden's behavior at his first solo press conference should bother every American who needs to know if their president is fit for duty and in charge," the Texas congressman said Friday, according to Fox News.
Ronny Jackson questions if Joe Biden is fit for office
Jackson said the U.S. president was armed with friendly reporters to call on and appeared to be prepared with answers. However, Biden still could barely make it in his first press conference, the congressman said.
Jackson's fitness while serving as the President's physician was also recently questioned. On March 3, the Department of Defense inspector general released a scathing report on Jackson's tenure as the White House's top doctor.
The investigation revealed that Jackson made "sexual and insulting" remarks about a female subordinate, broke the ban on drinking alcohol while on a presidential tour, and took prescription-strength sleeping pills, creating questions among his peers about his capacity to offer proper care, as per CNN.
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Biden had his first official press conference 64 days after taking office, which was much longer than many of his predecessors, and he addressed reporters' questions for a little more than an hour.
Biden announced that he plans to run for reelection in 2024 with Vice President Harris as his running mate. He also said he is open to revamping the filibuster to achieve the passage of his legislative agendas. And that he does not see U.S. troops in Afghanistan next year, The Washington Post reports.
Jackson and other Republicans panned the President's first official conference with the news media. Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson claimed that if the President cannot handle questions in the White House press corps from his cheerleaders, it concerns how Biden represents the American people when speaking to foreign leaders.
Last week, Biden sparked attention with a physical misstep, slipping and falling several times as he boarded Air Force One. Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, dodged concerns about whether President Biden was examined by a doctor afterward.
Ronny Jackson's service amid Obama, Trump administrations
Meanwhile, the probe into Jackson, a member of the House Armed Services subcommittee that oversees military forces, began in 2018 and looked into charges that dated back to his tenure in the Obama and Trump administrations. According to the investigation, four witnesses said Jackson appeared drunk and made derogatory remarks about a female medical subordinate during a presidential trip to the Philippines in April 2014.
Two witnesses claimed they saw Jackson drinking a beer while serving as the president's physician and in charge of delivering medical attention for a presidential trip two years later in Argentina. This happened despite laws barring him from drinking for 24 hours before the president's arrival until two hours after leaving, as per Daily Mail.
The report also detailed several instances during Obama's and Trump's administrations in which Jackson lost his temper and cursed subordinates. Jackson claimed that the inspector general 'resurrected' old allegations against him as he declined to "turn his back on former President Donald Trump," who supported his 2020 congressional bid.
