(John Ransom, Headline USA) The New York Times added to the growing Democrat concerns about the alleged cognitive decline of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calf., by running an in-depth article detailing her troubles remembering things.
Feinstein behavior raises questions about Congress members’ mental fitness https://t.co/ZizSQGkuKz
— Chris Field (@ChrisMField) May 3, 2022
“At 88, Ms. Feinstein sometimes struggles to recall the names of colleagues, frequently has little recollection of meetings or telephone conversations, and at times walks around in a state of befuddlement,” said the New York Times.
Last month, President Joe Biden, who has faced similar accusations, defended Feinstein via press secretary Jen Psaki, saying he had total confidence in her mental abilities.
“She’s a longtime friend, a proud public servant, and someone who has long enjoyed serving with and working with,” Psaki said, according to local ABC 10.
The comments came after the San Francisco Chronicle outlined similar worries about Feinstein’s cognitive decline in April.
“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,” one anonymous lawmaker told the San Francisco Chronicle.
“All of that is gone,” the source added. “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.”
More ominously, Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, was less than candid when questioned about Feinstein’s mental decline, saying that he was going to keep details of his conversations between himself and the San Francisco Democrat private.
“I’ve had a good number of discussions with Sen. Feinstein,” he told reporters, according to the New York Times, “but I’m keeping them to myself.”
One political science professor, however, said that the pressure about Feinstein’s ability is coming from the public, not from the politicians, who have a vested interest in protecting one of their own.
“Instead, I think what you have is public pressure,” UC San Diego Political Science Dean Thad Kousser told local ABC 10.
