<br><div><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el" aria-label="Video - Biden and Putin hold four hour meeting to talk cybersecurity response"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">The former White House doctor who gave a glowing report in 2018 about then-President Donald Trump’s cognitive abilities is calling on President Joe Biden to take the same test.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, led a group of 14 Republicans who <a target="_blank" href="https://jackson.house.gov/uploadedfiles/rep._jackson_letter_to_president_biden_regarding_moca_test.pdf" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">sent Biden a letter</a> on Thursday urging him to take a cognitive test and make the results public.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">The freshman Congressman served as White House physician under former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Trump. In 2018, he gave Trump a clean bill of health after an annual physical and cognitive test that came amid questions about Trump’s mental fitness to serve.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">At the time, Jackson said it was the first instance he knew of a cognitive test being administered to a sitting president, <a target="_blank" href="/story/news/politics/2018/01/16/white-house-doctor-trump-medically-fit-serve/1037199001/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">saying Trump was “mentally very sharp.”</a></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">“We believe that, regardless of gender, age, or political party, all presidents should follow the precedent set by former President Trump to document and demonstrate sound mental abilities,” Jackson and his Republican colleagues wrote in their <a target="_blank" href="https://jackson.house.gov/uploadedfiles/rep._jackson_letter_to_president_biden_regarding_moca_test.pdf" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">June 17 letter to Biden.</a></p><figure class="gnt_em gnt_em_img"><img class="gnt_em_img_i" style="height:372px" data-g-r="lazy" src="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/10/23/USAT/a4b3298e-ed73-492a-b492-e6db6ab127eb-VPC_DEBATE_COVID_RESPONSE_WIDE_POOL.jpg?width=660&height=372&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp" srcset="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/10/23/USAT/a4b3298e-ed73-492a-b492-e6db6ab127eb-VPC_DEBATE_COVID_RESPONSE_WIDE_POOL.jpg?width=1320&height=744&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp 2x" decoding="async" alt="President Joe Biden, pictured here during the final debate of the 2020 campaign, bristled at questions about his mental fitness during the presidential campaign."/></figure><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">The Trump campaign made Biden’s mental fitness <a target="_blank" href="/story/news/politics/elections/2020/07/19/donald-trumps-effort-paint-joe-biden-mentally-unfit-becomes-gamble/5385856002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">a major piece of its 2020 campaign.</a> In campaign ads and rallies, Trump sought to paint Biden as mentally unfit to serve. His mental fitness has been a regular <a target="_blank" href="/story/news/factcheck/2021/02/26/fact-check-missing-context-post-biden-and-nuclear-codes/6821127002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">target </a>for misinformation spreading online.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Biden, 78, is the <a target="_blank" href="/story/news/politics/2020/11/05/oldest-president-joe-biden/6181672002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">oldest president in American history.</a></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><strong class="gnt_ar_b_al">Fact check:</strong><a target="_blank" href="/story/news/factcheck/2021/05/30/fact-check-missing-context-video-misrepresents-joe-bidens-remarks/7473547002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Video of Biden discussing Jesus, the American Revolution and airports is missing context</a></p><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">The White House did not...</p></div> <style> .wrapper { text-align: center; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="button" href ="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/18/joe-biden-urged-take-mental-cognition-test-14-house-republicans/7743927002/">Read more <span>➤</span></a> </div>
