Mike Johnson questions investigation into Democratic ‘cover-up’ of Biden’s downfall

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday floated the idea of ​​investigating Democrats over a “major cover-up” of President Joe Biden’s allegedly deteriorating health.

In conversation with moderator Jake Tapper at CNN State of the NationJohnson said Democrats had “prevented people from seeing what the people in their immediate vicinity saw.”

“Now that the cat is out of the bag, you can hear from the Republican speaker what everyone else already knew and saw,” Johnson said. “The Democrats were involved in a major cover-up here. He is no longer the Joe Biden he was four years ago when he ran for office. He is no longer capable of pulling this off now.”

The House speaker added: “And it’s not his fault. Nobody can do anything about how he ages and how his abilities decline. But that’s clearly what’s happening here and it’s something that needs to be addressed.”

Tapper immediately addressed Johnson’s “cover-up” remark, asking the House Speaker whether he was considering “a congressional investigation or even law enforcement.”

Johnson said: “That’s something we’ve discussed.”

He added: “Up until the debate three weeks ago, you’ve seen over the last few weeks Democrats and others in the House regularly say things on television like, ‘Joe Biden is far superior to us, and he can go to the Olympics.’ It’s just weird. They all knew that wasn’t true.”

“Every time I saw one of those statements, I couldn’t believe they did that. And that’s why they put him through the process of winning the primary because they made false claims about his abilities. Now the whole country is seeing it and they’ve painted themselves into a corner because they did that.”

Biden appeared to lose his train of thought mid-sentence several times during the June 27 presidential debate against Republican candidate Donald Trump. The president’s team later said he had a cold and was suffering from jet lag. In the weeks that followed, prominent Democrats, including congressmen and actor George Clooney, a major party donor, publicly called on Biden to step down and let another candidate take the lead. But Biden and his top advisers insisted he would not drop out of the race.

On Sunday, Johnson also acknowledged to Tapper that, based on recent interactions with Biden, he personally believes Biden is “cognitively impaired,” but said he did not comment because he was “concerned about demonstrating weakness on the world stage at a very dangerous time.”

Newsweek sent an email to Johnson’s office and the White House on Sunday morning seeking comment.

Even before his lackluster debate performance last month, Biden, 81, had long faced concerns that he was too old to seek another term. There were also concerns about Trump, 78, about his age and cognitive abilities. Biden has had record-low approval ratings at times since taking office in January 2021.

The president is currently in isolation at his home in Delaware, where he is battling a COVID-19 infection, but pressure on him to drop out of the 2024 presidential race continues to mount.

Some reports say the president is open to withdrawing in private discussions. Biden has reportedly begun asking whether Vice President Kamala Harris, who is considered the favorite to succeed him if he withdraws, could beat Trump in November. The New York Times reported.