Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) had a short, sharp response to a Fox News reporter who approached with a question about the unexpected root canal procedure that President Joe Biden underwent earlier this week.
Hillary Vaughn noted to Porter how Biden “had to take off work” for the treatment, then appeared to push the right-wing talk point that Biden isn’t fit for office when she asked: “Do you think he has the stamina for a second term?”
Porter, without breaking stride, replied: “Have you ever had a root canal?”
The moment went viral on Twitter, garnering millions of views.
Porter, who is running for a seat in the Senate next year, later shared a video of the exchange.
She wished Biden a “speedy recovery.”
Biden missed a scheduled appearance at a college athlete event at the White House on Monday and rescheduled a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for Tuesday.
He was not anesthetized, so the power of the presidency did not temporarily transfer to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden was back fully at work on Tuesday and even joked about his root canal with Stoltenberg. “I apologize for having to reschedule yesterday,” said the president. “I had a lot of fun yesterday afternoon. I had a little toothache problem they took care of.”
The procedure to remove inflamed and/or infected pulp on the inside of the tooth may have been painful decades ago, the American Association of Endodontists acknowledges on its website, but modern techniques mean now “you won’t experience any more pain than if you went to have a cavity filled.”