President Joe Biden's top economic adviser insisted on MSNBC Thursday that the president is “as sharp as ever.”
The comments by Jared Bernstein, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, came amid growing concern over reports of cognitive impairment since a June 27 CNN debate and a July 5 interview with ABC host George Stephanopoulos, and growing calls for Biden to halt his reelection bid.
Bernstein argued that the president frequently asked him about details of economic reports, either in person or over the phone, when MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell asked if that was “someone you still worked with” while Biden was vice president. (RELATED: Jon Stewart slams Biden campaign for 'blatant bullshit' about president's mental ability)
“I can say that with confidence. It's not based on a few days or a few weeks or even one data point, but, as you said, it's based on a long relationship. I was his chief economist when he was vice president and have been briefing him on economic reports just like this one ever since,” Bernstein said, adding that he frequently updates Biden on the state of the economy, both in person and by phone.
“The guy on the other end of the phone or sitting in the Oval talking to me about these reports is as sharp as ever and always asks the right questions, so much so that sometimes I have to scramble back and think about answers to his tough questions,” Bernstein said.
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Biden economic adviser insists president remains 'sharp as ever', MSNBC host conveys concerns pic.twitter.com/MCLblqcJ3F
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 11, 2024
Bernstein argued Biden will ask pointed questions about what the inflation data means for Americans sitting around their kitchen tables.
“The President continues to dwell on these very issues in his highly informative briefings, the same ones we've had for decades.”
Bernstein later said the White House was celebrating “a strong economic report.” The Consumer Price Index rose 3.0% in June from a year earlier, slightly below economists' expectations, but prices have risen more than 20% since Biden took office.
Administration officials had dismissed inflation concerns early in the Biden administration's presidency, with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell predicting in August 2021 that any inflation would be transitory. speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming Hospitalized A month later, inflation had lasted longer than he had “expected.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged during a June 2022 appearance on CNN that she was wrong to underestimate the risks of inflation.
Biden's age and mental health were issues that dogged the presidential campaign ahead of Thursday night's debate. Biden has said he has spoken multiple times with people who have died, including claiming on Feb. 8 that he spoke with former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who died in 2017, about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Biden also claimed in February to have spoken with former French President François Mitterrand, who died in 1996. In September 2022, Biden asked about Jackie Walorski, a Republican congresswoman from Indiana who was killed in a car accident in August 2022 along with two staff members.
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