Former Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel — who is 94 years old — wondered whether President Biden belongs in a nursing home instead of the White House following last week’s debate disaster.

“I have never been more shocked and embarrassed by any presidential debate than I was last Thursday,” Rangel, who served in Congress from 1971 to 2017, said Sunday on 770 WABC radio’s “The Cats Roundtable.” 

“One [candidate is] a convicted felon who has no respect for the truth, for morality. The other seemed so damned confused I didn’t even know whether he knew where the hell he was at in terms of responding to the moderator.”

Rangel, a Democrat, told host John Catsimatidis he “would not object” to both candidates taking cognitive tests to determine their fitness. Trump is 78, just three years younger than Biden.

FAUCI GIVES HIS OPINION ON WHETHER 81-YEAR-OLD BIDEN IS FIT TO RUN FOR A SECOND TERM

“It’s clear that Biden was shaky in responding … One has to think about what happens in [the next] four years.”

Biden’s debate performance was so troubling that voters have to be reminded that Trump could be sentenced to prison time for his conviction in the Stormy Daniels hush money case, Rangel said.

BIDEN DEBATE DEBACLE: 10 EYE-OPENING MEDIA RESPONSES, FROM MSNBC PANIC TO ‘THE VIEW’ CALLING FOR REPLACEMENT

He said in most states Republicans and Democrats will vote for their party nominee despite their flaws, and the election comes down to seven battleground states.  

New Yorkers watch the 2024 Presidential Debate between Trump and Biden in New York City, on June 27, 2024. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“If Trump is in jail, Republicans will vote for him. If Biden is in a nursing home, [the Democrats] are going to vote for him,” he said. 

BIDEN’S ‘DISASTER’ DEBATE PERFORMANCE SPARKS MEDIA MELTDOWN, CALLS FOR HIM TO WITHDRAW FROM 2024 RACE

But Rangel wasn’t ready to abandon Biden, noting he was good on the stump the day after the debate.

Former President using his hands to convey his point at the debate (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

“He was so on point, so articulate. He was better than he was at the State of the Union [address]. And I wondered, ‘Where the hell was that Joe Biden [during the debate]?’” he said.

Biden intends to seek re-election despite calls from the liberal New York Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and even some Democrats that it’s time for him to step aside for the good of the party and the country.

Former U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., questioned whether President Biden belongs in a nursing home following the debate with Trump. (Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images)

During the debate, Biden frequently stumbled over his answers and at one point froze and then said “I beat Medicare.”

Rangel, during the latter part of 46 years in Congress, struggled with his physical health but appeared mentally sharp.

President Biden has “become like a Palestinian.” The comment from former President Trump at Thursday’s debate in Atlanta was meant to be an insult aimed at his opponent’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

Despite the implicit bigotry of the barb, Trump’s vilification of an entire people in the form of a crude jab barely made the news.

There is plenty of analysis coming out of the 90-minute live debate — Biden’s terrible performance, Trump’s fountain of lies — but what I find most heartbreaking is the quiet acceptance of casual racism as part of our political discourse.

The former president’s bigoted rhetoric onstage last night doesn’t even qualify as a minor talking point in today’s discussions about the CNN telecast.

When Trump descended from the escalator and into the campaign scene in 2015, numerous headlines and stories were generated in response to his race-baiting comments about Mexican “rapists” and a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”

Now, during one of the most-watched television events of the year, such ugliness has barely caused a ripple.

The stakes are much higher now than nine years ago, therefore we’re directing our energies elsewhere. This election is about upholding democracy and defeating fascism. But if we’re willing to accept derogatory remarks about race, faith or people as part of a campaign to win votes, we’ve given up.

During the debate, Trump claimed that Biden’s failed immigration policy resulted in millions of dangerous immigrants taking “Black jobs.” And if that weren’t xenophobic enough, Trump broadened his scare speak to include the loss of “Hispanic jobs” as well.

What exactly is a Black or Hispanic job? It’s hard to say because no one on the debate stage or behind the moderator desk bothered to ask. Co-anchors Dana Bash and Jake Tapper instead let the stunningly racist remarks glide through unchallenged, as if racial stereotyping were protected under CNN’s debate rules of no real-time fact-checking.

To be fair, the first debate of the 2024 presidential campaign was anything but business as usual.

Biden looked frail and bewildered. Trump was uncharacteristically controlled. And CNN served as a staging company rather than a news outlet. Post-debate discussions across multiple platforms have been dedicated to deconstructing the scene — the incumbent’s poor performance, his opponent’s avalanche of lies — yet they’ve largely overlooked the ugly leveraging of race and bigotry in their wider analysis of the event.

In short, there’s been little soul-searching about how such blatantly discriminatory statements were able to sail through undisputed.

The CNN broadcast revealed a sad truth about American politics in 2024: Xenophobic fear-mongering once relegated to the far-right fringe is now an acceptable starting point for mainstream dialogue about American politics and presidencies.

The conflation of Palestinians with the villainous dark side of a good vs. evil conflict is nothing new, especially from the MAGA-verse. Sadly, it’s not surprising that Trump’s Palestinian comment is being viewed as a bizarre and somewhat funny moment rather than a gross disparagement of an entire people.

Loaded slurs and statements about Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are still an acceptable form of bigotry and hatred, even in these supposed “woke” times. I had hoped that dynamic might shift in my lifetime, but the media’s continued implied connections between Palestinians and Hamas, Muslims and terror, Arabs and spooky otherness, tells me not to keep my hopes up.

As for Black and Hispanic jobs, Thursday’s debate was more proof that we’re becoming inured to the racism of the right. The mainstream media — even left-leaning outlets — are so desensitized by MAGA’s repurposing of archaic stereotypes that they barely reacted to the association of Black and brown communities with crime, low-paying jobs, poverty, etc.

Hateful rhetoric has to be particularly egregious to trigger an outcry, and that’s a sign that intolerance is winning.

Pushing back against Trump’s demeaning commentary should have been Biden’s job on that debate stage, and he failed. CNN and the rest of the media also failed to highlight the danger of normalizing racism for votes.

If this approach wins the White House, we all lose.

Medicare benefits have emerged as an election hot topic, putting President Biden in a likely precarious situation with senior voters after slashing the popular Medicare Advantage program’s benefits ahead of the election. 

“I will not cut one penny from Social Security or Medicare, which Joe Biden is destroying by letting millions of people come into our country. He’s destroying Medicare and Social Security,” Trump said during his rally on Temple University’s campus in Philadelphia last weekend, setting the stage for ongoing attacks against his 2024 competitor. 

“Joe Biden has cut Medicare Advantage for the last two years. Did you know that? He’s cut your Medicare Advantage, which is a total betrayal of seniors. And just check, you’ll see it. He has cut you down for two years straight.”

Medicare was cited again during the first presidential debate of the election cycle on Thursday, where Biden’s disastrous performance included him saying, “We finally beat Medicare” as he stumbled over his words. 

“He’s right, he did beat Medicare, beat it to death,” Trump fired back. “And he’s destroying Medicare because of all these people are coming in, they’re putting them on Medicare, they’re putting them on Social Security.”

BIDEN ADMIN THREATENING YOUR MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLAN. HERE’S WHAT THEY’RE NOT TELLING YOU

Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, specifically, are private health insurance plans that contract with Medicare, and are used by more than 33 million Americans. The program mostly enrolls adults over the age of 65, but also offers benefits to people of all ages with disabilities. Traditional Medicare, conversely, is a federal health insurance program for adults over the age of 65, as well as younger individuals with disabilities. 

BIDEN HOPES SENIORS WON’T NOTICE THIS CUT IN THEIR BENEFITS BEFORE THE ELECTION

The Biden administration in April finalized plans to cut MA benefits, which experts said could lead to an additional $33 a month for out-of-pocket costs, or $396 a year, for enrollees. Critics of the cuts said they would be especially devastating to seniors living on fixed incomes who are already coping with ongoing inflation issues. 

Fox News Digital spoke to a former nurse, Republican New York congresswoman, and Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairwoman Ann Marie Buerkle, who said the cuts could prove devastating for the Biden administration, as the 46th president hits this election cycle’s fever pitch. 

HEALTH CARE COSTS UP TO 300% HIGHER FOR PRIVATELY INSURED PATIENTS THAN THOSE WITH MEDICARE, REPORT REVEALS

“By letting far-left socialists control his policy agenda, Biden made a huge blunder that will jeopardize his support from the 33 million Americans enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans who will see their premiums go up, co-pays increase, and benefits decline before November,” said Buerkle.

President Biden speaks about his administration’s plans to protect Social Security and Medicare and lower health care costs, Feb. 9, 2023, at the University of Tampa in Florida. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The cuts come as the left-wing faction of Congress continues promoting “Medicare-for-all” legislation, which would establish a universal single-payer national health insurance system. Buerkle said the Biden administration’s cuts this year “actively sabotage MA,” likely in a backdoor attempt to promote a government-focused system, such as “Medicare-for-all.” 

“Far left ideologues like Elizabeth Warren hate Medicare Advantage’s success as a public-private partnership because it undermines their argument for government-run health care, aka ‘Medicare-for-all.’ Biden has let these far left ideologues in his administration actively sabotage MA so they can prop up a government-run model and achieve their socialist agenda,” she said. 

The sentiment was echoed in an op-ed published by Fox News Digital in May, by Heritage Action executive vice president Ryan Walker.  

REPUBLICANS WARM TO SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE REFORM AS 2024 ELECTION NEARS

“Biden and his allies want to cut MA in favor of more government-run, fee-for-service  ‘Medicare-for-all’ – which would mean fewer options for physicians and coverage, like vision and hearing. Recently, progressive ringleader Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and a coalition of 59 far-left House Democrats sent a letter to Biden arguing for ‘strengthening Traditional Medicare’ and redirecting funds ‘incorrectly going to MA,’” Walker wrote. 

The Biden administration pushed back that “any claim that this Administration is cutting Medicare is categorically false” and “disinformation,” adding that “protecting Medicare is a key priority for President Biden and one of our highest priorities at HHS.”

“This is cherry picking numbers. Under the rate announcement, payments to Medicare Advantage plans are expected to increase by 3.7% next year, equivalent to over $16 billion. A $16 billion increase is not a cut,” the White House told Fox News Digital. 

“Leave it to deep-pocketed insurance companies and industry front groups to characterize this year’s increase in Medicare Advantage payments as a cut. Disinformation being pushed out by high-paid industry hacks and their allies hurt Medicare beneficiaries and the Medicare Trust Fund.”

The administration added that it proposed a 1% increase in payments to insurance companies that provide Medicare Advantage order to “ensure they are accurately and appropriately compensated for covering the services their enrollees receive.” 

“Like the 1% percent increase in payments that we are proposing for 2024, recovering overpayments from insurance companies is not a cut in payments – any such claim is categorically false.”

President Biden during the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections between himself and former President Trump in Atlanta on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Buerkle previously wrote in an op-ed this year that Medicare benefits could be a “winning issue for Republicans,” citing that the states that voted for Trump in 2016, but switched to Biden in 2020 – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – are home to a majority of seniors who get their health care through MA. 

“51% of Medicare-eligible Americans choose MA, and that number grows each year. Nearly all of them self-report satisfaction with the program. So, for 51% of seniors, Medicare Advantage is Medicare, so cuts to the program equate to cuts to Medicare. Trump understands that increasing health care costs for society’s most vulnerable population before an election is a stupendously dumb idea. Other Republicans should follow his lead,” Buerkle told Fox News Digital. 

The MA plans are overwhelmingly supported by those enrolled, with a 2021 analysis finding 90% of enrollees reporting they are satisfied with the plan. Biden had also vowed during his State of the Union address in March that he would protect Social Security and Medicare from any cuts. 

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“Tonight, let’s all agree once again to stand up for seniors. Many of my friends on the other side of the aisle want to put Social Security on the chopping block. If anyone here tries to cut Social Security or Medicare or raise the retirement age, I will stop you,” Biden said during the State of the Union. 

“I will not cut one penny from Social Security or Medicare,” former President Trump has said. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

“Not only will these cuts increase out-of-pocket costs for seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans by an average of $396 next year, cutting Medicare Advantage hurts Medicare solvency, too, since it’s less costly to the federal government compared to original Medicare and studies have shown that Medicare Advantage could help extend Medicare solvency by 17 years. MA delivers the same benefits as original Medicare for just 83 cents on the dollar,” Buerkle added. 

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The cuts have faced no shortage of condemnation from Republicans and conservatives, who sounded off in April that seniors on fixed incomes would suffer further financial strains. 

President Biden speaks during a campaign event in Philadelphia on April 18, 2024. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“America’s seniors are among the most vulnerable people in our society. Most live on a fixed income – Biden’s inflation has been a baked-in tax to everything they purchase. Now, he’s raising the price of the advantage plan – a plan that millions of seniors rely on,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posted on X. “This is unacceptable.”

DOCTORS EXPRESS CONCERN ABOUT BIDEN’S APPARENT COGNITIVE ISSUES DURING DEBATE: ‘TROUBLING INDICATORS’

“President Trump delivered on his promise to protect Social Security and Medicare in his first term, and President Trump will continue to strongly protect Social Security and Medicare in his second term,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital. 

BIDEN DEBATE DEBACLE: 10 EYE-OPENING MEDIA RESPONSES, FROM MSNBC PANIC TO ‘THE VIEW’ CALLING FOR REPLACEMENT

“The only candidate who poses a threat to Social Security and Medicare is Joe Biden–whose mass invasion of countless millions of illegal aliens will, if they are allowed to stay, cause Social Security and Medicare to buckle and collapse. By unleashing American energy, slashing job-killing regulations, and adopting pro-growth America First tax and trade policies, President Trump will quickly rebuild the greatest economy in history and put Social Security and Medicare on a stronger footing for generations to come.”

Axios reported earlier this year that Biden administration officials believed benefits for enrollees would remain stable through next year. Researchers, however, said the Biden campaign was taking a gamble with the cuts ahead of the election. 

“President Biden’s team is gambling that MA beneficiaries won’t realize before the election the benefits Biden’s team is causing them to lose come January 2025,” Raymond James analyst Chris Meekins told the outlet.