Democrats are warning members of their party not to fall into a political trap after President Trump ordered an investigation into former President Biden’s mental state and executive actions at the end of his term.

Trump directed his counsel, in consultation with the attorney general, to probe “whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden’s mental state” amid renewed scrutiny of his predecessor’s age and health in the lead-up to last year’s election.

The probe threatens to keep an issue in the news that Democrats would like to move on from and could force them into the uncomfortable position of having to defend Biden despite his unpopularity.

“We need to avoid taking the bait for a totally unfounded political stunt, which is what this investigation is,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “It’s a distraction from the problems that everyday Americans face in our economy: tariffs, rising prices and the ‘Great Big, Beautiful Bill.’”

Biden also cast the play as a distraction from controversy swirling around the current White House, pushing back sharply against Trump’s suggestion that he was not the one making the decisions from the Oval Office.

Trump’s call for an investigation fixates on Biden’s use of an autopen to sign executive actions, claiming that, if advisers “secretly used” the mechanism “to conceal his incapacity,” it would constitute an unconstitutional wielding of presidential power.

“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency,” Biden said in a statement. “This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations.”

On Capitol........

© The Hill