Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) flipped the script on Wednesday during a hearing on former President Joe Biden’s alleged mental decline while in office.
Durbin, a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pointed to gaffes and answers from President Donald Trump over the last few months in a video montage, asking “Do any of these statements raise a question of cognitive ability? You be the judge.”
The video included comments of Trump on the campaign trail and during his second term, including remarks like “the windmills are driving the whales crazy,” “concepts of plan,” and his baseless claim that Haitian immigrants are “eating the dogs” and “eating the cats” in an Ohio town.
The account for Senate Judiciary Democrats released the compilation of claims on X.
“Senate Judiciary Republicans are holding a sham hearing now. If you want to talk about a President’s state of mind, consider this mess,” the account wrote in a post.
“We’re focused on the critical challenges facing our nation. Back to business,” it continued.
Durbin began his time grilling the Republican members of the committee for focusing on Biden, when it has a “constitutional duty” in holding oversight hearings about the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security.
“So far this year, the Republican majority in this committee has not held a single oversight hearing, despite numerous critical challenges facing the nation that are under our jurisdiction,” Durbin said.
Durbin said there have been incidents demanding the committee’s “immediate attention” over the last few weeks, including a fatal Minnesota shooting, the ICE manhandling of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif), and Trump’s deployment of 4,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell protests against immigration raids.
Durbin urged the committee to hear from Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel about how they will address “unacceptable political violence,” including threats to judges, justices and members of Congress. He also called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to answer questions about the “treatment” of Padilla during Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles and Trump’s increased immigration crackdown.
“Apparently, armchair diagnosing former President Biden is more important than the issues of grave concern which I have mentioned,” he said.
When it comes to “cognitive ability,” Durbin later said the committee should consider Trump’s false claim during the G7 summit on Monday conflating the United Kingdom as part of the European Union.
“We just signed it, and it’s done, and so we have our trade agreement with the European Union and it’s a fair deal for both,” Trump said after dropping papers while standing alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Most Senate Democrats, with the exception of Durbin and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), refused to participate in the congressional hearing, and both left the meeting early. The hearing included testimony from former Trump administration officials, such as ex-press secretary Sean Spicer, as Republicans in Congress and the president have continued to raise questions about the former president’s ability to serve in the White House.
Earlier this month, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer expanded his own investigation into an alleged cover-up by Biden’s inner circle. Some concerns resurfaced after CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson released a book last month detailing the formers president’s final months in office.
Stories by Rachel Cohen
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