When Joe Biden announced – via a letter posted to social media – that he was suspending his 2024 presidential campaign, he did not give a specific reason for doing so. He did say, however, that he would finish his term as commander in chief.
Some 10 days later, it increasingly appears as though Vice President (and presumptive Democrat nominee) Kamala Harris is taking the lead in the administration. But given the escalating tensions in the Middle East and everything else happening at home and abroad, Megyn once again questioned whether or not Biden is fit to stay in office for the next six months.
On Wednesday’s show, she was joined by Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of Ask Dr. Drew, to discuss Biden’s deteriorating state and what his symptoms suggest about his condition.
Understanding Anosognosia
Megyn’s question for Pinsky was simple: “Is it narcissism that makes a president who is deteriorating daily, who cannot have a meeting with a foreign dignitary, who cannot put two sentences together stay in the office while admitted he cannot serve a second term?”
While Pinsky, who is board certified physician in internal and addiction medicine, agreed that there are “narcissistic disorders” at play, he believes there is “another phenomenon” the country is “in massive denial” about called anosognosia.
“[Anosognosia] is something we know well in stroke patients, particularly when the stroke is in the right side of the brain. There is a denial of, an inability to perceive the left side of the body and left side of the world, but no awareness that the left side is missing,” he explained. “Well, lo and behold, most brain and psychiatric conditions, when they become more severe, have some version of anosognosia. We call it lack of insight. We call it denial. But underneath it, it’s a biological process that blocks our ability to see what’s happening to us.”
Causes of anosognosia include “parkinsonism,” “various dementias,” “aging,” and prior “brain surgeries,” Pinsky said, and it is what leads families to have to figure out how to take driving privileges away from elderly relatives who don’t realize the state they are in.
While he admitted it is hard “to decide whether somebody is sufficiently impaired that they shouldn’t have access to car keys,” the stakes are even more unique when you are dealing with the president of the United States. “Shouldn’t we have a little higher standard for the leader of the free world,” he asked. “I mean, the fact that we’re having this conversation about being functional versus able to lead the free world – it should be a different standard.”
Understanding Parkinsonism
As Pinsky explained, anosognosia is “not a problem associated with” but rather “a feature of” various conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases. Given the physical and cognitive symptoms Biden has displayed, some have questioned whether the 81 year old is suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
The White House has denied it, and Pinsky has not personally evaluated the president. But he does believe Biden shows signs of a broader phenomenon called Parkinsonism, which is different than Parkinson’s disease. “Parkinson’s disease obviously causes Parkinsonism, but many things cause Parkinsonism,” he noted.
Pinsky said some of the most common signs of Parkinsonism are “freezing,” “motoric slowing,” “waxing or mask-like faces,” “difficulty showing expression,” “mumbling,” “not crating volume in their voice,” and “narrow, festinating gait.” In his view, “all of this” describes Biden. “He has all of this. That’s just a fact. He has Parkinsonism. He has Parkinsonian features,” he said. “The only thing we don’t know – and there is no way I could diagnose him – is what is causing it.”
When a physician sees signs of Parkinsonism in a patient, Pinsky said he or she will mentally run through a list of possible causes. “In [Biden’s] case, it could be Parkinson’s disease, it could be his previous neurosurgeries, which he’s had two for aneurysm, it could be something more serious like Alzheimer’s or Lewy Body Dementia, it could be vascular dementia, it could be something obscure we haven’t really thought of, or it could be medication reactions,” he shared. “But to say that he doesn’t have Parkinsonism is, simply, factually false.”
It should be noted, Pinsky said, that some of the medicines that are prescribed to relieve the symptoms of Parkinsonism can “affect cognition and judgment,” which might be something the president’s physicians are struggling with. It also could explain why Biden has fared better in settings that involve reading from a teleprompter than those that require off-the-cuff responses (i.e. the debate).
What It All Means
Pinksy said the problem with the president is clear, even if the causation is not. “It may or may not be Parkinson’s disease… [but] it’s all Parkinsonism,” he explained. “And if any second year medical student could not identify this as Parkinsonism – as I saw one neurologist on TV say the other day – that medical student would be remediated immediately because… it’s that simple.”
In Megyn’s view, Pinsky’s opinion should concern every American. “Just an FYI for listeners at home: The man we are talking about is still the sitting president of the United States,” she concluded. “We still have no idea what’s wrong with him… or who the commander in chief is.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Dr. Drew by tuning in to episode 852 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.