Controversy is still ongoing in the United States regarding the “mental health” of President Joe Biden, amid continuing parliamentary demands, especially from Republicans, for his impeachment against the backdrop of a government report that described him as “an elderly man with a weak memory.”
Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania, Navy veteran Guy Reschenthaler, called on Biden to step down “immediately,” following the report of Special Counsel Robert Hoare on the handling of classified documents.
In his report, Hoare, the former prosecutor in Maryland during the rule of former President Donald Trump, said that he chose not to bring criminal charges against Biden after a 15-month investigation into his handling of the documents, and added that “it will be difficult to convict the president because he is a well-meaning old man with a weak memory.” “He could not tell the investigators the date of his son, Beau Biden’s death.”
Hoare’s report came months before the US presidential elections, in which Biden (81 years old) is likely to compete with Trump (77 years old), and coincided with several slips of the tongue committed by the current and former presidents.
Reschenthaler told Fox News: “Biden should step down immediately,” based on “the fact that you have a special counsel report that says he is not mentally fit to handle classified documents.”
In a tone not devoid of concern, the congressman added: “This is the man who owns the nuclear code for the United States.”
What is the nuclear code?
In the United States, this term refers to the president’s sole authority to issue a final order to use nuclear weapons if necessary.
If there was a nuclear attack on the United States, there is no button the president could push.
Instead, a series of codes must be activated, before the missiles can be operated at various locations in the United States with the aim of nuclear retaliation.
The US President possesses these codes, known as the “nuclear code,” which means that he is the only one who can finally authorize the launch of an attack of this type.
Reschenthaler called on Biden to step down, while pointing to parts of the report that described the president as “not knowing when he would become vice president, or when his son died.”
On Thursday, Reschenthaler wrote on Twitter: “Joe Biden lacks the mental fitness to be president of the United States. He does not know when he was vice president, and he has no idea about the main events in his personal life.”
He denounced: “How does he have access to our nuclear codes?”
He frankly told Fox News that ministers in the Biden administration should be “ashamed of themselves” for not activating the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution, in the wake of the Hoare report.
He continued: “This is the man who is supposed to address all issues on the international scene, whether it is the war in Gaza, or dealing with the Houthis who fire missiles at ships in the Red Sea, or our enemies China and Russia, you name it.”
What is the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution?
This amendment allows for the possibility of removing the president if it is proven that he is unable to lead the country.
The 25th Amendment sets out the methods for transferring power in the United States, in the event of the resignation, death, impeachment, or temporary incapacity of the president.
The amendment transfers the powers of the president to his vice president, until the latter can return.
The amendment allows the Vice President and members of the government to remove the President, if he is deemed unable to perform his duties.
The president is given the opportunity to respond, and if he rejects the measure, Congress intervenes, as the decision to impeach the president in the House of Representatives and the Senate requires a two-thirds majority.
