By Aila Slisco
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Fox News contributors Jessica Tarlov and Lisa Kennedy Montgomery sparred on the network Monday over whether or not former Vice President Joe Biden could be suffering from "dementia."
The tense exchange happened on the latest episode of the Fox panel discussion show Outnumbered. Democrat Tarlov defended the state of Biden's mental health after the conservative Montgomery suggested the former vice president's campaign speeches had been shortened to 15 minutes because he can no longer handle speaking for a longer amount of time.
"It is so reckless and irresponsible for people to be speculating that this man, who very well might be the next president of the United States, has dementia when there is no doctor backing [the claim]," said Tarlov.
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Fellow panelist Brian Kilmeade remarked earlier in the segment that Biden "needs to win" the Democratic primaries set for Tuesday in six states to avoid too much focus being placed on Sunday's planned debate with Sanders.
Montgomery agreed, comparing the mental state of Sanders favorably to Biden, while added she believed he had recovered from a heart attack in October in a "much more energized" state than Biden.
"Joe Biden's stump speech as been shortened to 15 minutes, and the Sanders campaign has been highlighting that," Montgomery said. "Bernie Sanders is giving three campaign events in a row, each speech he gives will be close to an hour. ... When Joe Biden has that much time on stage, one-on-one, he doesn't have any... human shields."
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Tarlov claimed that conservatives and Sanders supporters were teaming up to spread rumors that Biden is in a state of mental decline.
"The right and Bernie Sanders... the MAGA folks and Bernie Sanders camps are unifying and saying Joe Biden has dementia."
"You worried about Joe Biden's mental faculties on this show," Montgomery interrupted. "A lot of people, Democrats openly talked about [how] they're worried that Joe Biden has [cognitive problems]."
Although Biden's mental state has been the topic of much discussion in conservative media and among some Sanders supporters, neither Sanders nor anyone officially active in his campaign has been pushing the notion.
Montgomery theorized that if Biden gets elected, the press will likely not question his medical or mental state in the same way she believes they have for President Donald Trump, while questioning whether Tarlov had speculated about Trump's mental health.
"I have never been a person to question President Trump's mental fitness or his physical fitness, I think that is reckless to do that," said Tarlov. "I've said that he has said crazy things."
Newsweek reached out to the Biden campaign for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
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