‘Who do you call?’: Biden’s bedtime raises nuke question
As concerns grow over Joe Biden’s health, the White House has been asked a pointed question about the 81-year-old’s bedtime.
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Joe Biden “has a team” who would wake him up to let him know if a nuclear strike on the US was imminent after his 8pm bedtime, his spokeswoman has assured reporters.
As the White House continues to battle growing concerns over the 81-year-old President’s health and mental fitness for the job, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faced yet another grilling on Tuesday where Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked the pointed question.
JUST IN: Fox News’ Peter Doocy trolls Karine Jean-Pierre by asking if the Pentagon calls Jill Biden if someone launches a nuke past 8pm.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 9, 2024
Brutal.
Doocy: “[Biden’s] sharpest before 8:00 PM. So say that the Pentagon at some point picks up an incoming nuke. It's 11:00 PM. Who do… pic.twitter.com/o5KwkPTNze
“He said he’s sharpest before 8pm … so say that the Pentagon at some point picks up an incoming nuke,” Doocy said. “It’s 11pm. Who do you call? The First Lady?”
Ms Jean-Pierre replied that “he has a team that lets him know of any of any news that is pertinent and important to the American people”.
“He has someone who … that is decided obviously with his National Security Council who gets to tell him that news,” she said.
Mr Biden last week told a gathering of Democratic governors at the White House that he needed more sleep, wished to work fewer hours and wanted to avoid events after 8pm.
The gathering on Wednesday, part of the Biden campaign’s continued damage control efforts following the disastrous June 27 debate against Donald Trump in Atlanta, came after White House aides revealed the President was prone to absent-minded gaffes before 10am or after 4pm.
Mr Biden has defiantly refused to step aside despite mounting calls from his own party to drop out of the race before the November election, insisting “only the Lord Almighty” will stop him from running.
Ms Jean-Pierre fronted reporters on Monday for a fiery press conference where she was accused of dodging questions about the President’s health.
She was asked about the revelation a Parkinson’s expert had visited the White House eight times in eight months. Reporters wanted to know whether Dr Kevin Cannard’s visits, which logs show included meeting with the President’s doctor once in January, were related to Mr Biden’s care.
Ms Jean-Pierre continued to answer the line of questioning with the information that Mr Biden had seen a neurologist three times during his presidency as part of an annual physical exam.
She said she would not share details about the Parkinson’s specialist’s visits for security and privacy reasons.
“It’s a very basic direct question,” senior CBS News correspondent Ed O’Keefe shot back, kicking off a fiery exchange.
Ms Jean-Pierre asked for “a little respect here, please”.
“I am telling you that he has seen a neurologist three times … every time he has a physical he has had to see a neurologist – so that is answering that question,” she said.
Ms Jean-Pierre denied she was dodging the question and continued to say she cannot share names of specialists despite it being public information.
“Guys, guys, guys, hold on a second. There is no reason to go back and forth with me in this aggressive way,” she said at one point.
“I am not going to divulge someone’s name or confirm someone. I’m not going to do that. That is out of privacy for that person. I’m not going to do that. It doesn’t matter how hard you push me. It doesn’t matter how angry you get with me from here. I am just not going to do that. It’s inappropriate. It is not acceptable.”
The questioning on Dr Cannard’s visits went on for more than eight minutes.
The entire press briefing lasted more than one hour and was described at times as being “tense and combative”.
Ms Jean-Pierre did confirm Mr Biden was not being treated and had not been treated for Parkinson’s.
She said his latest physical exam in February was “reassuring” and he has other “check-ins” with his doctors regularly.
Also at the Monday press briefing, eyebrows were raised when a senior White House official said Mr Biden would hold a “big boy” press conference during a vital week for his campaign, with the annual NATO summit taking place in Washington DC.
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby made the “big boy” comment in reference to a question from Bloomberg journalist Justin Sink last week, who asked whether the President’s upcoming face-to-face with media was “going to be kind of the real, big boy press conference”.
Ms Jean-Pierre laughed at the question, calling the journalist “Big Boy Justin” and said he was asking “big boy questions”.
“President Biden will hold a press conference — a ‘big boy’ press conference, according to Justin Sink from Bloomberg,” Mr Kirby said on Monday.
He then brought the comment back up and repeated it a further three times on Tuesday.
The clips, edited to remove the reference to the Bloomberg journalist, were widely shared online by right-wing pundits and sparked a flood of memes.
Democratic members of the House or Representatives met on Tuesday in Washington DC in an attempt to find a consensus on Mr Biden’s candidacy, with one attendee telling CNN there was a sense of “sadness” in the room.
The sadness comes from “talking about someone you love who is in obvious decline”, the unnamed politician said.
At a news conference following the meeting, party caucus chairman Pete Aguilar said he and fellow Democrats would be keenly watching the President over the coming days to judge his ability.
“Let’s see,” he said. “Let’s see the press conference. Let’s see the campaign stops. Let’s see all of this because all of it is going to be necessary.”
Most top Democrats have so far publicly rallied behind Mr Biden.
The President will address fellow NATO leaders on Wednesday morning, Australian time, in a speech closely watched both domestically and by international allies.
On Thursday, he will hold a rare news conference during the NATO summit.
It will be his first since the debate two weeks ago, which sent his campaign into a tailspin.
— with Chantelle Francis and Benedict Brook
Originally published as ‘Who do you call?’: Biden’s bedtime raises nuke question
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