Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s communications director Kate Bedingfield claimed on Wednesday that videos of Biden struggling to “complete a sentence” were conspiracy theories that were part of a smear campaign.
“Real quick, I just want to ask you about the videos that keep coming out,” Fox News’ Ed Henry asked. “Whether it was the one over the weekend where Joe Biden seemed to be struggling to talk about whether or not you should vote for him or vote for Donald Trump’s re-election. Bottom line is, you know the Trump campaign is pushing these videos out there and they’re asking a basic question: is Joe Biden fit to be Commander-in-Chief? How do you answer that?”
“You know, I have to say this is a disgusting smear tactic, and this kind of thing is exactly why people want Joe Biden to be president,” Bedingfield responded. “This kind of false, misleading, basically conspiracy theory, that, uh, you know, a desperate–”
“Hang on,” Henry interjected. “How is it a smear tactic to ask you about a video where the vice president, in his own words, struggles to complete a sentence. How is that a smear tactic?”
“Ed, respectfully, how many times have you struggled to complete a sentence on air?” Bedingfield responded. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I’m not running for president, Kate,” Henry responded.
Bedingfield added, “If I’m Donald Trump and I saw Joe Biden last night giving the speech that he gave sounding presidential, looking like a leader, if I’m looking at the turnout that he is generating across the country, I’m scared too, and starting to throw this kind of nonsense against the wall.”
WATCH:
Joe Biden's deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield was asked whether he is fit for office.
She never said yes.
Very telling… 🤔 pic.twitter.com/OyBF9tB4BO
— Trump War Room – Text EMPOWER to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) March 11, 2020
Scrutiny over Biden’s fitness for office has increased in recent weeks as more and more clips of him have circulated on cable news and on social media.
Recently, podcast host Joe Rogan expressed serious concern about Biden, saying, “Stop. Pause. He can’t be president. Stop. Pause. Pause. Listen, we can’t play any games here, folks. This is a really old man who can’t talk. This is not a joke. Like that right now, ‘you know the thing,’ play that again. This should get you into a mental hospital. They should be like, ‘Hey, um, Joe are you alright?’”
During the Democratic presidential debates, Biden’s competitors have also raised concern over it.
After one of the debates, then-candidate Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) criticized Biden over concerns that he couldn’t “carry the ball,” telling CNN, “I think we are at a tough point right now because there’s a lot of people concerned about Joe Biden’s ability to carry the ball all the way across the end line without fumbling. And I think that Castro had really legitimate concerns about can he be someone in a long, grueling campaign … and has every right to call out.”
“I think there were a lot of moments where a number of us were looking on the stage when he tends to go on sometimes,” Booker continued. “At one point, he was talking about communities like mine listening to record players. I don’t remember the last time I saw a record player … But there are definitely moments where you listen to Joe Biden and you just wonder …”
Sen. Cory Booker on Julián Castro's jab at former VP Joe Biden's memory: "Castro has some really legitimate concerns about, can he be someone in a long grueling campaign that can get the ball over the line? And he has every right to call that out." #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/rRxWIV0FmL
— CNN (@CNN) September 13, 2019