(Headline USA) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said this week that it “wouldn’t hurt” for President Joe Biden to take a cognitive test amidst increased scrutiny of his mental capacity.
Whitmer—who rumored to be aggressively campaigning to replace Biden should he voluntarily abandon his reelection bid—has publicly denied that she has any such ambition and has nominally expressed her support for his continued candidacy.
However, she acknowledged during an interview with CNN on Wednesday that many Americans were concerned about the 81-year-old’s ability to serve a second term.
Asked whether Biden should take a cognitive test, Whitmer told CNN’s Abby Phillips, “I don’t think that it would hurt. We have a field, and unless one person, Joe Biden, makes an alternative decision, this is the field, and we’ve got to go.”
She also threw cold water on efforts by others within the Democratic Party to force Biden out of the race.
“I understand that some are playing fantasy football and want to just pick a couple of random leaders that they like across the country and design a ticket,” she said.
“That’s just not how this works,” she continued. “We have a president who’s gotten a nomination, who’s earned it.”
Whitmer then tried to refocus the interview away from Biden and toward former President Donald Trump.
“[Biden] shows up every day and fights for the American public,” she claimed.
“He cares about other people more than he cares about himself, and that’s precisely why I think this moment where we have Donald Trump, who’s been convicted of 34 felonies, who cares only about Donald Trump, we can’t lose sight of how high these stakes are,” she added.
The White House has refused to say whether Biden would agree to a cognitive exam, and Biden himself has rebuffed requests for him to do so, arguing that he takes a “full neurological test every day” as president.
“No one said I had to [take a test]. They said I’m good,” Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos last week.
