Former White House senior medical adviser Anthony Fauci sneakily promoted his new book on CBS News' “The Takeaway” on Wednesday, assuring us that President Joe Biden is fine.
Biden surprised viewers during the first 2024 presidential debate on Thursday night when he visibly stumbled and spoke huskily. Despite two aides claiming the president had a cold while facing off against Republican front-runner Donald Trump, Fauci downplayed Biden's debate performance as a “terrible night” and twice snuck in references to his recently published autobiography, “On Call.”
“It seemed like a terrible night because my interactions with him were exactly what I wrote in the book, and even what happened after I got out of the hospital, after what I wrote in the book,” Fauci said.
“You know, he asks very probing questions,” Fauci continued, “and is very analytical. He's very calm about things. You have to really know your subject when you go to brief him, because he asks very good questions. And he thinks things through very well, he doesn't jump to conclusions or anything. But he's very analytical. So I have to say my interactions with him have been very, very positive.” (RELATED: DNC members unveil Biden succession plan to “solve” “messy” issues with Kamala Harris)
Dr. Fauci says Major CBS He said he has “no doubt” that President Biden has the mental capacity and energy to continue in his job, despite his shaky performance in last week's debate with former President Donald Trump.
The complete story of Dr. Fauci Takeaway Podcast … pic.twitter.com/lVpwjNYcVP
—CBS News (@CBSNews) July 2, 2024
CBS News reporter Major Garrett continued to press Fauci about whether Biden's debate performance “made the former senior White House medical adviser medically concerned,” with Fauci telling Garrett it would be “inappropriate” to make inferences about Biden's health just by looking at him.
“Did you watch the debate?” Garrett asked.
“I did,” Fauci replied.
“Did anything that you saw cause you any medical concern?” the CBS correspondent asked.
“I can't tell you that,” Fauci told Garrett, “Mr. Major, I think that's inappropriate for you to say, because if you only look at somebody once, you don't know what's going to happen.”
“Did he have a bad cold?” Fauci continued. “You know, did he take an antihistamine to keep him awake or something? We don't know what happened, and I think it's unfair and inappropriate to try to diagnose anything based on just 90 minutes of footage.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied concerns about Biden's cognitive abilities on Wednesday afternoon. She blamed Biden's debate performance on a “cold” and “jet lag.” She was bombarded with questions, including from Fox News' Jackie Heinrich, who asked why the president went to Waffle House if he was feeling sick and tired.
