Biden jokes with Nadler about ‘cognitively impaired’ comments

President Biden joked with Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler (N.Y.) about being called “cognitively impaired” following his fiery State of the Union address.

The two Democrats spoke on the floor of the House chamber after the address, alongside other Democrats.

“Nobody’s going to talk about ‘cognitively impaired’ now,” Nadler said to Biden.

Biden laughed and responded, “I kind of wish at times there were cognitive impairment.”

The president was challenged going into the address with displaying himself as mentally sharp and energized to reassure voters ahead of November.

Polling has indicated that Americans think the president, 81, is too old for the job, and those concerns were fueled when special counsel Robert Hur’s report on his handling of classified documents referred to him as an elderly man with memory problems.

Biden on Thursday used the bully pulpit to go after former President Trump and harp on issues that will shape the general election campaign throughout his address, which lasted just more than an hour.

The address, which at times can be mistaken for a campaign address, touched on the war in Ukraine, threats to democracy, the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and threats to abortion access and reproductive health care.