South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said last weekend that President Joe Biden’s abysmal debate performance in June left him concerned about US national security.
In an interview with CBS reporter Robert Costa on “Face the Nation,” Senator Graham said Senate Republicans have expressed concern about President Biden’s health but unlike Democrats who are more worried about whether Biden can win reelection, the Republicans were more concerned about the “national security implications” of having a president who is mentally “compromised.”
The South Carolina senator also expressed concern about the president’s ability to serve out the remainder of his current term. He told Robert Costa that he was worried about Biden’s ability to remain commander-in-chief “for the next four months.”
Senator Graham also repeated his call for the president to undergo cognitive testing, something Biden dismissed during his interview with ABC’s George Stephanopolous on July 5.
Graham added that he believed that everyone “in the line of succession” should be required to undergo regular cognitive testing. He later confirmed that he also thought Donald Trump should have to receive a cognitive test.
The senator noted that South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond was 100 years old when he was the Speaker pro tem of the Senate and suggested that Biden’s debate performance served as a “wake-up call for the country” to make sure that those who are in the line of success are mentally and physically capable of serving in the role of commander-in-chief “under dire circumstances.”
Graham admitted that his primary concern is that America’s allies and enemies alike can see that President Biden is “compromised.” He suggested that the problem wasn’t just that the president is “in denial” about his condition but also that the country has someone “leading the ship of state” who appears to be “compromised.”