Donald Trump forgot the name of his White House doctor just moments after saying Joe Biden should take a cognitive test.
“I took a cognitive test, and I aced it. Doc Ronny — Doc Ronny Johnson,” Trump said, attempting to refer to Ronny Jackson, former White House physician turned US Rep.
“Does everyone know Ronny Johnson, Congressman from Texas? He was the White House Doctor,” Trump continued.
Biden’s campaign circulated the clip on social media, pointing out Trump’s error and confusion over the name. James Singer, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign, told NBC News the former president is “unhinged, unable to focus, and diminishing before our very eyes.”
“His only coherent thoughts this week were his affinity for more corporate tax cuts for billionaires, tax increases for the middle class, and his disdain for the people of Milwaukee,” Singer told NBC News.
Trump, 78, has previously challenged 81-year-old Biden to cognitive tests and highlighted the president’s gaffs.
Trump, however, has repeatedly made similar public slip-ups. Earlier this year, he confused Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi and called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán the leader of Turkey.
In January, Trump also claimed to have “aced” a more recent cognitive test. “I don’t know if you saw, but a few months ago, I took a cognitive test my doctor gave me,” Trump said in January. “I said, ‘give me a cognitive test, just so we can you know,’ because you know what the standards were, and I aced it.”
Trump also repeated his long-time claim that he aced his cognitive test, which Jackson administered in 2018. “I think he should take a cognitive test like I did,” Trump said of Biden just before his mix-up.
Jackson, 57, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2021. He served as Physician to the President from 2013 to 2018 before becoming the first-ever Chief Medical Advisor to the President.
In 2019, Anthony Fauci took over the role — which has now been vacant since he stepped down in 2022.
In March, Jackson was demoted from retired admiral to captain by the US Navy following the Pentagon inspector general‘s report that said his actions while serving under Trump were inappropriate. The report said Jackson drank alcohol and used drugs while on duty as Trump’s physician.
The former White House physician often shares far-right content on social media. In 2020, Jackson faced heavy criticism after he posted in support of Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that Barack Obama conspired to take down his administration — a conspiracy theory he refers to as “Obamagate.”
