Fact check: An NC congressman is diagnosing Joe Biden’s mental state
The issue: A Republican U.S. representative from North Carolina has gone further than even President Donald Trump in questioning the mental state of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Greg Murphy, who represents much of Eastern North Carolina in the U.S. House, has said repeatedly in the last few weeks that Biden, the 77-year-old former vice president, has dementia.
Murphy is a medical doctor — a urologist. But experts at the UNC Department of Neurology said diagnosing dementia requires a comprehensive evaluation, including in-person tests.
Still, Murphy has posted versions of the claim at least four times on Twitter, saying Biden “obviously is fighting the ravages of dementia.”
Asked about it by The News & Observer on Monday, Murphy did not change his tune, adding that he’s only saying what the public thinks.
“The majority of American people believe he does have dementia,” Murphy said on a news conference the Trump campaign held by phone.
Polls do not back up Murphy’s assessment of Americans’ concerns about Biden’s mental state. In fact, more voters have questions about the 74-year-old Trump’s fitness for office, according to several recent polls.
Why we’re checking this: Many people are seeing claims about Biden’s mental state, whether suggestions in campaign ads or more explicit claims on Twitter, which now come with a congressman’s endorsement.
What you need to know: Murphy, a Greenville Republican, has not examined Biden, but he said he’s been in medicine for more than 30 years.
“Part of my job is to look, listen and make assessments,” he said Monday.
“He does have signs of dementia,” Murphy said.
Murphy said Biden is not “physically up or mentally up for the job.” He cited Biden’s speech patterns and said “I don’t think one has to be a rocket scientist” to see it.
A medical assessment for dementia, according to the National Institute of Aging, includes medical history, physical exam and neurological tests. It can also include cognitive tests, laboratory tests and brain scans.
Dementia is a brain disorder that results in declined cognitive performance, according to the UNC Department of Neurology. It can cause people to lose the ability to think, process or judge information. Dementia is the broader term for diseases of the brain including Alzheimer’s disease and others, according to the school.
“The diagnosis of progressive cognitive decline or dementia requires multiple assessments including a battery of neurocognitive assessments, laboratory tests, brain imaging and occasionally analysis of spinal fluid. It is not possible to make this diagnosis without performing a comprehensive evaluation,” the UNC School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology said in a statement it issued in response to questions from the N&O about diagnosing dementia.
About 5% to 8% people over 65 have some form of dementia, according to UNC.
Murphy questioned why Biden would not take a dementia test. Trump has bragged about taking and passing a cognitive test, though experts have said the test is not considered definitive or even diagnostic, according to The New York Times.
“Why not take a dementia test?,” said Murphy. “If you don’t have it, prove to the American people you don’t.”
What polls say
While Murphy claimed that “The majority of American people believe he does have dementia,” a Hill-HarrisX poll from July found that 56% of voters thought that Biden was mentally fit to be president and 60% thought he was physically fit. The same poll found lower numbers for Trump: 45% mentally fit and 56% physically fit.
A Fox News poll from July found 47% of voters thought Biden had the mental soundness to serve effectively as president, compared to 43% for Trump.
A Monmouth poll in July found that 52% of voters have confidence that Biden has the physical and mental stamina to be president. Trump clocked in at 45%, though more voters are very confident in Trump (33%) to Biden (23%).
Murphy also questioned how voters could vote for Biden given that many don’t think he will complete a four-year term. Biden, at 78, would be the oldest president inaugurated if he were to win the Nov. 3 election. Ronald Reagan, who was 73 when he started his second term in 1985, is the oldest to be sworn in; while Trump, who was 70 in 2017, is the oldest president sworn in for a first term.
A Rasmussen Reports poll in August found that 59% of likely voters believe that if Biden were elected, his running mate would be president before the end of his four-year term. The poll was conducted before Biden picked U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his vice president.
The campaigns
Asked about Murphy’s comments, the Trump campaign embraced them.
“It’s really so sad to see, but it’s pretty clear to anyone paying attention that Joe Biden has lost his fastball,” said Tim Murtaugh, Trump 2020 communications director.
The Trump campaign has been leaning into attacks on Biden’s mental acuity, releasing a digital ad Monday alternately showing clips of Biden speaking forcefully in the past and him speaking more haltingly during this campaign. Biden has talked about his lifelong struggle with a stuttering problem, including during a CNN event in February.
But Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement to reporters that “Donald Trump is spectacularly failing every conceivable strategic test by ramping up mentions of this subject at all.”
On Monday, Trump — as he has done many times — alluded to Biden’s fitness for office. Trump often calls him “Sleepy Joe” and says that he is being controlled by other members of the Democratic Party.
“Joe Biden is nothing but their puppet. He has no clue what’s happening,” Trump said during a speech in Wisconsin earlier this week.
Biden will accept the Democratic nomination Thursday night and deliver a speech from Wilmington, Delaware.
Our sources. Here’s where we found information and research on this topic:
U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy’s Twitter account
Trump campaign press event with Rep. Murphy
UNC School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology
This story was produced by The News & Observer Fact-Checking Project, which shares fact-checks with newsrooms statewide. It was edited by Politics Editor Jordan Schrader and Managing Editor Jane Elizabeth. Submit a suggestion for what we should check, or a comment or suggestion about our fact-checking, at bit.ly/nandofactcheck.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 9:43 AM.
