A White House aide who worked closely with President Joe Biden for years has revealed that the commander in chief’s mental acuity has apparently declined.
The senior White House official who worked with Biden during his presidency, vice presidency and 2020 campaign told the New York Times He no longer believes the 81-year-old has what it takes to beat Trump.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity so he could speak publicly, said the president has been showing increasing signs of his age in recent months: He speaks more slowly, hesitantly and quietly.
Biden also appears more tired in private, the aide said, concluding that he should no longer seek re-election.
Others close to Biden have noted that in public he often trails off and freezes mid-sentence.
A senior White House staffer who worked with President Joe Biden for years revealed how the president’s mental acuity wanes in private conversations
The White House staffer concluded that the president should not seek re-election
Last month, the president appeared to freeze during a Juneteenth celebration at the White House.
He was seen staring into space as Vice President Kamala Harris danced beside him. He also appeared to slur his words during a speech at the event.
Less than a week later, Biden again abruptly stopped at a fundraiser in Los Angeles, staring out over the crowd for a few seconds.
But a White House spokesman dismissed reports of a frozen response on DailyMail.com as “fake” and “lies,” saying his response was simply “listening to a crowd of people applauding for a few seconds.”
In recent days, donors were stunned when Biden described a French cemetery in Normandy as “Italian” during a fundraiser in the Hamptons, insiders told the Washington Post.
When Biden later appeared at the New Jersey governor’s private mansion, sources said he spoke so softly that an audience of 50 people had to crane their necks to hear him speak through a teleprompter.
On Thursday, Biden appeared to mingle with his Vice President Kamala Harris in an interview with Philadelphia’s WURD
“By the way, I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, the first black woman… to serve under a black president,” he said, confused.
Biden wandered off during paratrooper rally at annual G7 meeting and was directed by Italian prime minister
“Proud to be involved with the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. There’s so much we can do because look… we’re the United States of America.”
It appeared he wanted to highlight the nomination of Kamala Harris as the first black female vice president of the United States.
But Biden himself was previously vice president, which is likely what he meant by “serving with a black president.”
Even politicians in other countries seem to have noticed the American president’s mental problems.
Last month, Biden wandered off during a paratrooper demonstration at the annual G7 meeting, orchestrated by Italy’s prime minister.
He then skipped a big dinner as Italian media reported that Biden was tired’ after a day full of events.
Three French officials who helped organize Biden’s visit to France said their American counterparts’ reactions to the options for a state visit in Paris and the D-Day commemorations in Normandy led them to suspect the president’s health must be fragile.
They were told that the president needed some time to rest and they felt that Biden’s entourage was very protective of him.
Biden’s advisers have been trying for years to limit President Biden’s radio gaffes
Emergency workers have shortened the stairs to Air Force One after a series of falls
White House officials have tried for years to limit the president’s missteps during his deployments. For example, the stairs leading to Air Force One have been shortened and a Secret Service agent is stationed at the bottom of the stairs as an extra precaution.
Aides have also built rest periods into his schedules: long weekends or extended stays in his home state of Delaware or at the presidential retreat at Camp David.
Biden’s public interactions — particularly those with journalists — have actually been greatly reduced under a mandate led by one of his top advisers, Anita Dunn.
At the same time, Biden’s advisers have maintained that the president is in top physical and mental condition and can effectively serve another term until 2028, when he would be 86 years old.
Medical experts have suggested that the president may have Parkinson’s disease
However, medical experts have suggested that Biden’s persistent freezing could be a sign of Parkinson’s disease, which can also cause thinking difficulties and cognitive problems, as well as depression and anxiety.
In the US, more than 90,000 people are diagnosed each year, most of whom are men over 60.
While symptoms such as tremors are common, Parkinson’s disease can also cause stiffness and problems moving the limbs and face, as well as unclear speech.
It is also known to cause cognitive impairment, such as memory, concentration, and even mood.
Symptoms of the disease worsen over time and there is no cure. The disease itself is not fatal, but patients can die from complications of it, such as pneumonia, heart disease, falls, choking, or urinary tract infections.
But neither Biden nor anyone on his team has ever claimed or confirmed that he has the condition.
Meanwhile, concerns grew about his age and mental acuity after he put in a dismal performance during last week’s CNN debate.
At times his voice would drop mid-sentence and he would stand there with his mouth open as Trump spoke.
When the debate ended, Biden stood around his podium, with First Lady Jill Biden eventually leading him off the stage.
Biden gave ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos a 107-word stream of nonsense when asked to explain his car crash during a debate with former President Donald Trump
The president later attributed his debate performance to “exhaustion” and “being sick,” even claiming he should have taken a COVID test before the debate, he told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in a one-on-one interview.
“The whole way I was preparing, it was nobody’s fault, mine. Nobody’s fault but mine,” the president said, before giving a rambling explanation.
“I — I was preparing what I normally would do when I got back with foreign leaders or the National Security Council for explicit details. And I realized — halfway through that, you know, all — I’m quoted by the New York Times tearing me down, ten points before the debate, now nine, or whatever it is.
“The fact is, and I looked at what he said, he lied 28 times,” he said of Trump.
“I couldn’t – I mean, the way the debate went was not – my fault, and nobody else’s fault,” he continued.
But Biden’s performance during the interview failed to convince even members of his own party that he has the mental strength needed for another four years.
Words like “heartbreaking,” “damned” and “fucking disaster” were all used by more than half a dozen Democrats in Congress, according to NBC.
At least five Democrats have since called on the president to withdraw from the race, and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia is pressuring party members in the upper chamber to oust Biden as the presidential nominee in favor of a younger candidate.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is also bringing together leading Democrats to discuss the issue in a Zoom meeting on Sunday, Politico report.
Still, Democrats have acknowledged that it would be difficult for another candidate to win the nomination this year. If Biden doesn’t agree to step aside, the prospects become nearly impossible.
The delegates were finalized during a selection process on June 22 and chosen state by state to represent their support for the president in the nomination process.
There are 43,933 Democratic delegates for 2024, and to win the presidential nomination a candidate must win a majority of them — this year it is estimated at 1,968.
Under Democratic Party rules, delegates are “affiliated” with a candidate, meaning they must “honestly” represent the views of those who elected them.
There is no official penalty if a delegate votes differently, but if a Biden delegate simply does not participate in the first round of voting instead of supporting the president, his vote will not count for anyone.