Ex-Rep. Charlie Rangel, 94, questions whether Biden belongs in nursing home, not White House
Former Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel — who is 94 years old — wondered whether President Biden belongs in a nursing home instead of the White House following last week’s debate disaster.
“I have never been more shocked and embarrassed by any presidential debate than I was last Thursday,” Rangel, who served in Congress from 1971 to 2017, said Sunday on 770 WABC radio’s “The Cats Roundtable.”
“One [candidate is] a convicted felon who has no respect for the truth, for morality. The other seemed so damned confused I didn’t even know whether he knew where the hell he was at in terms of responding to the moderator.”
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden at a podium during the CNN Presidential Debate in Atlanta, Georgia, 2024. Getty Images
Rangel, a Democrat, told host John Catsimatidis he “would not object” to both candidates taking cognitive tests to determine their fitness. Trump is 78, just three years younger than Biden.
“It’s clear that Biden was shaky in responding … One has to think about what happens in [the next] four years.”
Biden’s debate performance was so troubling that voters have to be reminded that Trump could be sentenced to prison time for his conviction in the Stormy Daniels hush money case, Rangel said.
He said in most states Republicans and Democrats will vote for their party nominee despite their flaws, and the election comes down to seven battleground states.
Former Rep. Charlie Rangel was “shocked” by Biden’s performance. G.N.Miller/NYPost
Former President Donald Trump looking at U.S. President Joe Biden during the CNN Presidential Debate in Atlanta, Georgia, 2024. Getty Images
“If Trump is in jail, Republicans will vote for him. If Biden is in a nursing home, [the Democrats] are going to vote for him,” he said.
But Rangel wasn’t ready to abandon Biden, noting he was good on the stump the day after the debate.
“He was so on point, so articulate. He was better than he was at the State of the Union [address]. And I wondered, ‘Where the hell was that Joe Biden [during the debate]?'” he said.
Biden intends to seek re-election despite calls from the liberal New York Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and even some Democrats that it’s time for him to step aside for the good of the party and the country.
During the debate, Biden frequently stumbled over his answers and at one point froze and then said “I beat Medicare.”
Rangel, during the latter part of 46 years in Congress, struggled with his physical health but appeared mentally sharp.