Former U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Joe diGenova and former DOJ Deputy Assistant Attorney General Victoria Toensing told Newsmax on Tuesday that there are "a bunch of loons" running the Defense Department after news broke that President Joe Biden was unaware of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's prostate cancer until today.
"I can tell you that Joe and I went through his having prostate cancer, and this is a serious thing," Toensing said of diGenova during an appearance on Newsmax's "American Agenda." "You don't keep that from the president of the United States. I can't believe that the president didn't pick up the phone and say, 'Hey, what's wrong with you? Are you OK? What do you have?' Nothing."
The Pentagon triggered intense political backlash when it revealed that Austin, 70, has been hospitalized since Jan. 1 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center; the public, the White House, and Congress were kept in the dark for much of last week.
Biden learned Tuesday that his defense secretary had prostate cancer, shortly after the diagnosis was disclosed to the public along with a subsequent infection that was also withheld.
Kathleen Hicks, Austin's deputy secretary, was also not informed of the situation for days, even after she was told on Jan. 2 to assume some of his duties while on vacation in Puerto Rico.
DiGenova said that the communication breakdown and the failure of the Biden administration to stay apprised of the situation shows "there is an amazingly dysfunctional person occupying the presidency."
"Can you imagine if you had kept this from Lyndon Johnson, or John Kennedy, or Richard Nixon? Anybody?" he said. "Can you imagine keeping that from any president? There are a bunch of loons running the Department of Defense."
"That news conference by [Maj.] Gen. [Patrick] Ryder was idiotic," he continued, referring to the Pentagon press secretary. "It was it was an imbecilic performance. And [National Security Council spokesman] John Kirby ought to be ashamed of himself as an admiral. He ought to be down on this hard, really hard."
Austin and Biden reportedly spoke on Saturday, and it was unclear why Biden did not learn about Austin's condition until Tuesday.
"The president of the United States is obviously dysfunctional," diGenova said. "He's not able to function. Here's what I want to know from the press. I want Newsmax to find out what type of medication is the president of the United States on and for what periods of time."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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