Joe Biden snaps at Fox News reporter and calls him a 'lying dog face' after being asked if he has been tested for cognitive decline - and says he can't wait to 'compare cognitive ability' with Trump at Delaware rally
Joe Biden snapped at a Fox News reporter who asked if he has been tested for 'cognitive decline', branding the man a 'lying dog face' during a press conference on Tuesday.
The presumptive Democratic nominee appeared to briefly lose his cool after he was questioned over his mental sharpness during a campaign event at a high school in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
As the press conference drew to a close, the reporter raised his hand to ask a final question, before being immediately interrupted by Biden who called him a 'lying dog face.'
Joe Biden, 77 , briefly lost his cool after he was questioned over his mental sharpness during a campaign event in Delaware on Tuesday
A Fox News reporter questioned if he had been tested for a 'cognitive decline'
The reporter then continued: 'I'm 65, I don't have the word recollection that I used to have, I forget my train of thought from time to time, you've got 12 years on me, sir - have you been tested for some degree of cognitive decline?'
Biden, appearing annoyed, responded defensively, saying he is 'constantly tested'.
'All you gotta do is watch me and I can hardly wait to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man I’m running against,' he said.
The former vice president's mental acuity and age has become the subject of media scrutiny and a target for President Trump and his campaign who have tried to push the narrative that Biden is the one who's addled.
Since launching his White House bid last April, the 77-year-old has made a series of public gaffes, often stumbling over his speech or forgetting facts during campaign events or interviews.
Biden drew criticism earlier this year after he hurled the same insult at a 21-year-old college student Madison Moore after she asked about his poor performance in Iowa, during a rally in Hampton, New Hampshire.
When the woman said she had never been to a caucus, Biden replied: 'No you haven't. You're a lying dog-faced pony soldier.'
In February, Biden called Mercer University student Madison Moore a 'lying, dog-faced pony soldier' after she asked him a question at his event in Hampton, New Hampshire on Sunday. Moore said: 'It was kind of humiliating to be called a liar on national TV by the former vice president'
Moore later spoke out on the incident, calling the moment 'humiliating' and said Biden attempted to 'invalidate me by exposing my inexperience.'
Biden's camp later said the line was taken from a scene in a John Wayne movie, where a Native American chief refers to Wayne as a 'lying, dog-faced pony soldier.'
Tuesday's question also came after Biden had attacked Trump's own cognitive ability and criticized his handling of the coronavirus crisis and the Russian bounty scandal.
He said it was a 'dereliction of duty' for not giving a stern warning to 'Vladimir, ol' buddy,' as soon as Trump was told intelligence said Russia was offering the Taliban bounties for American soldiers.
'This president is talking about cognitive capability, he isn't even cognitively aware of what's going on,' Biden told reporters during the Q&A. 'He either reads and-or gets briefed on important issues and he forgets it, or he doesn't think it's necessary that he need to know it.'
Joe Biden gave a speech and took questions at a high school in his adopted hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. Biden took on Trump for his response to the coronavirus crisis and the Russian bounty scandal
Joe Biden answered reporters' questions at the Tuesday event. Reporters wore masks and were spread more than six feet apart to proper the recommended social distancing protocols to prevent the contraction of coronavirus
Biden's main remarks focused on Trump's handling of the coronavirus crisis, as he demanded that the president fix shortages in personal protective equipment for healthcare workers 'before you tee off another round of golf.'
'Remember back in March when he called himself a "wartime president?"' Biden asked. 'What happened? Now it's almost July and it seems like our wartime president has surrendered - wave the white flag and left the battlefield.'
As coronavirus cases continue to grow around the U.S., Trump spent time Saturday and Sunday at his Sterling, Virginia golf club after cancelling a planned trip to his Bedminster, New Jersey golf property.
Biden slapped Trump for 'his historic mismanagement of the biggest public health crisis in 100 years' that is 'continuing to cost Americans lives and wreck our economy.'
Biden said that the American people didn't make 'enormous sacrifices over the past four months' so Trump could waste time 'with late night rantings and tweets.'
'They didn't make these sacrifices so you could ignore the science and turn responsible steps like wearing a mask into a political statement,' Biden said. 'And they certainly didn't do it so you could wash your hands and walk away.'
The Biden campaign rolled out an updated COVID-19 plan in the hours running up to the presumptive nominee's Wilmington speech.
Part of it, the campaign announced, was convincing Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease doctor, to stay on and work for yet another administration.
Biden also said that he would start tackling the crisis minutes after the November presidential election is called.
'Minutes after he is declared the winner of the election, Biden will make one of his first calls to Dr. Tony Fauci and ask him to extend his unprecedented record of service to six Presidents by serving one more,' a campaign memo said. 'Dr. Fauci will have full access to the Oval Office and an uncensored platform to speak directly to the American people - whether delivering good news or bad.'
Joe Biden went after President Trump (pictured) for golfing. Trump spent both Saturday and Sunday at his Virginia golf club after cancelling a planned trip to his Bedminster, New Jersey facility
President Trump is photographed golfing at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia on Saturday
The Tuesday speech marked the second time in a week that the former vice president has emerged from his basement rec room - where he's been holding Zoom fundraisers and campaign events - to pan Trump's coronavirus crisis response and his overall behavior.
It also marked his first press conference in months.
Reporters in Wilmington were instructed to wear masks and had their temperatures taken directly before Biden's appearance.
The former veep revealed that he hasn't gotten a coronavirus test, but planned to soon, pointing out that his staff and the Secret Service agents who guard him get tested frequently.
'I haven't wanted to take anybody else's place in the process,' Biden explained.
As soon as the Q&A kicked off, Biden was asked for his take on the news reports that Trump was told in early 2019 that Russia was offering Taliban fighters bounties to kill American service members.
The White House continues to deny Trump knew about it despite reports that say otherwise.
'So the idea that somehow he didn't know or isn't being briefed, it is a dereliction of duty if that's the case,' Biden said. 'And if he was briefed and nothing was done about this, that's a dereliction of duty.'
Biden then made it personal.
'I was talking to Jill, my wife Jill, and I don't see her get outraged very often, and she started asking me, "Joe, what would you have done if Beau was still in harm's way and this information came out?"'
Beau Biden, who passed away in 2015, had served in Iraq.
'I'm sorry, I apologize,' at the mention of his deceased son.
'If he'd been in Afghanistan ... What are those parents thinking out there?' Biden continued. 'It's an actual dereliction of duty if any of this is remotely true.'
'If these allegations are true and he did nothing about any of this then the fact, I think, the public should - unrelated to my running - conclude that this man isn't fit to be president of the United States of America,' Biden added.
Biden also gave an update on the state of the race.
'This is the most unusual campaign I think in modern history,' Biden chuckled. 'I start off with a premise that I'm going to follow the docs' orders,' he said.
Biden explained that that meant no rallies.
Trump has already resumed campaign events and has been criticized for bringing large crowds together in indoor venues and not mandating they wear masks.
'I'd much rather be doing it in person,' Biden said of campaigning.
He also said it's 'much too early' to read too much into the polls, some of which show Biden leading Trump nationally by double-digits.
Biden committed to participating in three debates.
President Trump's campaign has been pushing for more.
Joe Biden snaps at Fox News reporter and calls him a 'lying dog face' after being asked if he has been tested for cognitive decline - and says he can't wait to 'compare cognitive ability' with Trump at Delaware rally
![Joe Biden snaps at Fox News reporter and calls him a 'lying dog face' after being asked if he has been tested for cognitive decline - and says he can't wait to 'compare cognitive ability' with Trump at Delaware rally]()
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June 30, 2020
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