Joe Biden’s doctor should have given him a cognitive test during his final year as president because of his age, Barack Obama’s former physician said in an interview, contending that the results would have helped the White House and the public understand whether Biden was up to serving another four years.
A report by White House physician Kevin O’Connor in February 2024 didn’t include any mention of neurocognitive testing for the then-81-year-old Biden. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who held the same job under Obama and has called for cognitive testing for presidents and presidential candidates, said Biden would have benefited from such a test given his age.
“Sometimes those closest to the tree miss the forest,” Kuhlman said of O’Connor, Biden’s physician since 2009.
The rare criticism of one White House doctor by another comes as Republicans have increased scrutiny of O’Connor and other former White House aides. House Republicans subpoenaed O’Connor on Thursday, a day after President Donald Trump ordered White House attorneys to determine whether Biden’s inner circle tried to conceal his alleged cognitive decline.
Kuhlman also said the 2024 report merely assessed Biden’s health when it should have considered his fitness to serve in one of the most taxing jobs on the planet.
“It shouldn’t be just health, it should be fitness,” Kuhlman said. “Fitness is: Do you have that robust mind, body, spirit that you can do this physically, mentally, emotionally demanding job?”
O’Connor did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Biden’s recent disclosure of metastatic prostate cancer and reporting about his alleged physical and cognitive decline have fueled suspicion – among Democrats as well as Republicans – that the true state of Biden’s health toward the end of his term was known only by O’Connor and a few others closest to Biden
