During a discussion on Fox News’ “The Five,” co-host Jessica Tarlov defended President Joe Biden’s fitness for the job after her co-hosts criticized a recent Axios article detailing White House efforts to help prevent Biden from tripping or stumbling. Tarlov turned the conversation around by comparing Biden’s fitness to that of former President Donald Trump and highlighting what she called Trump’s recent “cognitive beauties.”
Tarlov began by mentioning the Axios piece’s focus on Biden’s choice of sneakers and noted that Fox News’ Peter Doocy had worn the same sneakers, suggesting they were popular on Capitol Hill. She then referenced a comment made by Doocy during a recent overseas trip, where he stated that Biden had held a full schedule, countering claims about the President’s work ethic.
As the discussion continued, Tarlov emphasized that perceptions of the United States around the world had improved since Biden took office. When challenged by Jeanine Pirro, Tarlov countered by highlighting what she called some of Trump’s recent cognitive errors over the last ten days. She cited instances where Trump made statements about needing identification to buy bread, running against Obama in 2016, warning of World War Two (which had already taken place), confusing Jeb Bush and George W. Bush, and making authoritarian comments on the social media platform Truth Social.
Tarlov’s comparison aimed to suggest that both Biden and Trump had made verbal gaffes, but she argued that Trump’s remarks were equally or more concerning. The discussion ended with co-host Martha MacCallum concluding that this comparison might be the choice that people have when assessing Trump and Biden’s respective fitness for the presidency.
“So part of the core of the Axios piece was about the sneakers, that he’d switched to sneakers,” Tarlov began, adding:
And then our very own Peter Doocy is on Fox and Friends this morning wearing the same sneakers that Joe Biden wore. And he said everyone on Capitol Hill from age 36 to 80 is wearing these sneakers.
“We worry about Peter Doocy falling down too,” jested guest co-host Martha MacCallum.
“Peter Doocy also when they were on their latest overseas trip was talking about Biden’s schedule. Remember when Biden said, ‘I got to, you know, I’m going to go take a nap and it’s late.’ And Peter said that he was working into the wee hours of the night. He said he’s held a complete schedule,” Tarlov continued, referencing a comment many on the right used to criticize Biden’s fitness to be president.
“And our perception around the world, by the way, is up since Biden came into the presidency,” Tarlov continued.
“Based on what?” demanded Jeanine Pirro.
“Based on what other world leaders and people in other countries think of America,” Tarlov shot back adding:
But you said, okay, you don’t need to watch him. Let’s just hear what comes out of his mouth.
And I put together some of Trump’s latest cognitive beauties from the last ten days. He said, you need an I.D. to buy bread. Has anyone shown ID to get Wonder Bread lately? He said that he ran against Obama in 2016. He ran against Hillary Clinton. He warned that Biden will get us into World War Two, which I’m pretty sure we already fought and won. And yesterday, he confused Jeb Bush and George W Bush and said Jeb got us involved in the Middle East. And then, of course, there are his authoritarian posts on true social calling for the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be executed and saying that he’s going to investigate media companies that he does not like. Can you imagine if Biden said, you know what, I’m going to look into that Fox News? They don’t seem to like me over there.
“This may be the choice that people have. Trump versus Biden laid bare here,
