One of Biden’s ‘closest friends’ wants him to take a ‘full neurological exam’ and release the results, biographer claims

Biden biographer Chris Whipple said Tuesday night that one of the president’s “closest friends” believes he should undergo a “full neurological exam” as questions mount about the 81-year-old’s cognitive state.

Whipple spoke with CNN’s Abby Phillip as Biden continued to fight for his political survival after his disastrous performance at last month’s presidential debate.

So far, Biden has refused to undergo a new cognitive exam, telling ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Friday, “I’ve already done it,” referring to the medical exam he underwent earlier this year by the White House physician.

“I will tell you that one of the president’s best friends thinks that Joe Biden should go to Walter Reed, get a full neurological exam, release the results and then see what happens,” Whipple said Tuesday.

The author, who wrote the 2023 biography The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White Housewas not sure if the message had been delivered.

Biden has refused to sit for a new cognitive exam, telling ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Friday, “I’ve already done it,” referring to the physical test he received from the White House physician earlier this year. He attended the NATO summit on Wednesday

“I don’t think that friend has said that out loud to Joe Biden, because even a good friend of mine, it’s hard to say that to him. But I don’t think he’s going to do that without a big push,” Whipple told Phillip.

Biden and the White House have resisted more transparency about the president’s health, following the debate and several “freezing” moments. Spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre called them “cheap fakes” and suggested the president was the victim of misleading redactions.

Jean-Pierre botched the explanation of whether or not the president had visited his doctor in the days before and after the debate.

Biden said it was not an “apology,” but that he was nursing a cold on stage in Atlanta.

And then Jean-Pierre changed her story after telling reporters that a meeting between the president’s personal physician and a neurologist specializing in Parkinson’s disease had nothing to do with Biden’s personal care.

The meeting at the White House on Jan. 17 was part of the president’s annual medical exam, she later explained.

Whipple said none of his sources thought Biden was ill, but that he was mainly showing his advanced age.

President Joe Biden’s political future is at stake and the White House has had to scrub health information provided to reporters, including whether he was treated for the cold he had during the debate and why a Parkinson’s disease specialist met with his doctor.

The biographer told Phillip: “By all accounts, the people I spoke to, including his closest friends and his inner circle, they all said Biden was cognitively fine.”

“He was clearly walking like a zombie because he had arthritis and all these other issues, but no, I didn’t see any evidence that he was cognitively impaired, and everyone was saying the opposite,” Whipple told the TV host.

The author also revealed that the president refused to speak to him during the interviews because he was writing his book. Instead, he asked for written questions, which he then answered.

This is a signature approach of the Biden White House, as the president’s inner circle has limited informal interactions between the president, the press and the public.

Whipple described it as the “most scripted White House in modern history.”