At a Wednesday press event, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre cited five reasons for Pres. Joe Biden’s poor performance during his first debate with former President Donald Trump – one of which was that Trump had stayed up too late in the days beforehand.
Jean-Pierre was repeatedly pummeled with questions about Biden’s declining cognitive health vis-à-vis his dismal debate performance.
“The president blamed jet lag for his debate performance…does he really need more than a week and a half to recover from traveling?” one reporter asked.
In response, Jean-Pierre blamed Biden’s disappointing performance on five problems:
- He stayed up late doing his presidential duties.
- He continued to do his presidential duties while traveling.
- He continued to do his presidential duties when he had a cold.
- He had to prepare for the debate.
- He was suffering from jet lag.
“And, mostly, he had a cold,” Jean-Pierre summed up:
“In addition to the two major trips, he was also doing, continued to do his presidential duties. He worked late in doing that and he also prepared for the debate. And on top of that, there was, obviously, the jet lag that you just asked about. And, mostly, he had a cold.
“And you all directly, you heard from him during the debate, he had a hoarse voice. Many of you reached out to me and my team and some other members of the White House asking what was going on.”
Jean-Pierre then reiterated that Biden didn’t do better at the debate because he continued to perform his presidential duties while he had a cold:
“We confirmed that he had a cold. And so, I think those two things, continuing obviously to do his duties as commander-in-chief, as the president.
“And so, I think, some of you here in this room can certainly relate to what can happen when you’re having an important moment and you’re not feeling well. And also, you wish you could have done better.”