President Joe Biden's critics speculated he might have injured himself when he arrived to speak at the University of Wisconsin–Superior with a dark "bruise" on his forehead.
Suggestions that the President was "dazed," "confused," or simply unwell circulated among the right-wing, who saw it as evidence the President was sundowning.
But there is a very simple explanation for the "bruise."
The answer is President Biden actually regularly attends church. That's right, Biden, a devout Catholic, was observing Ash Wednesday, a Christian Holy Day of prayer and fasting.
Ash Wednesday falls on the first day of Lent. It is observed by Christians across many denominations, who often attended special church services.
The Holy Day gets its name from the placing of ashes on the foreheads of participants to either the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or the dictum "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return," a ritual that uses ashes prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations.
Biden even acknowledged Ash Wednesday on his official Twitter account.
How could Biden's critics, many of whom identify themselves as members of the Christian right, not know about the significance of the "bruise"?
Biden's supporters subjected these same critics to a proper fact check.
The suggestion Biden is "mentally frail" has become a favorite talking point in conservative circles.
However, claims Biden has a cognitive impairment are unfounded much like most of the MAGA minions claims.
In September 2020, ABC News reported the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) withheld intelligence warning of Russian disinformation attacking Biden to promote "allegations about poor mental health."
The intelligence bulletin, titled "Russia Likely to Denigrate Health of US Candidates to Influence 2020 Election," said American intelligence determined Russian operatives are sowing disinformation to convince the American electorate Biden has dementia and would be unfit to serve in office.
But the fact that the bulletin has discredited allegations about Biden's mental health has not stopped prominent conservatives from claiming that Biden is very much at the mercy of his handlers, or even his wife.
Last August, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy claimed Dr. Jill Biden, the First Lady, was aware of President Biden's "frail" mental health yet allowed him to assume office anyway.
She went on to claim the First Lady was responsible for the agreement to withdraw from Afghanistan and the release of thousands of Taliban leaders from prison, which were, in fact, released under the administration of former President Trump.
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