Is Joe Biden fit to be president of the United States?

Since his electoral campaign in 2020, various media outlets echoed the mental gaps of the then candidate for the US presidency, confusing figures, names and people, in addition to appearing disoriented in public presentations.

In March 2020, in a campaign speech, Biden mistook his wife Jill Biden for his sister. He took her hand and introduced her as his sister, but as he turned her head he realized that her real sister was on the other side of her. It was at that moment that he realizes that he is confused and rectifies himself in front of those present.

At that time, former President Barack Obama defined criticism of Biden’s mental health as a “low blow,” but it is very difficult to believe that Obama was unaware of his running mate’s mental deficiencies during his eight-year presidential term, and for his close personal ties with Biden.

Las confusionslos “white moments”las falls and disorientation They accompany the current tenant of the White House long before his first day in the Oval Office. As the months have passed, these serious problems have become visibly worse and in the public eye, through press reports and videos that have gone viral on social networks regarding the serious “missteps” of the President.

A few months before the presidential elections in November, record and historic inflation is added, widespread discontent with the economic situation, which includes banking crisis, mortgage crisis, industrial contraction, record trade deficit in 2021 and 2022, debt of 34 trillion of dollars, etc.); the chaos on the country’s southern border for three years, the war in Ukraine and Israel and other issues such as the great political polarization in Congress in Washington and in the country; and the increase in violence in all border states and in those governed by Democrats (mostly).

At this time, all polls give former President Donald Trump an advantage over Biden of between five and eight points in voting intentions for the presidential elections in November. Meanwhile, disapproval of Biden’s management continues to increase.

Scrutiny on Biden’s ability

He former White House doctorRonny Jackson, questioned Biden’s mental capacity in 2020 in a publication on the old Twitter platform. Jackson immediately received Obama’s reaction in an email and accused him of dealing a “low blow” after praising his excellent service and professionalism as a doctor.

An investigation by the Department of Justice, through special prosecutor Robert Hur, into hundreds of classified documents found at different Biden properties, confirms once again what has long been an open secret: the questionable mental and physical capacity of Joe Biden to hold any important position in the United States government, much less run the White House.

The conclusive report of the federal investigation is published hours after President Biden confused the current president of France, Emmanuel Macron, with the late Francois Mitterrand at a public event.

In fact, during Macron’s visit to Washington in 2023, the French leader had to guide Biden in the ceremony, amid disorientation. But the same thing has happened in events with senior military leaders, in visits to factories and in speeches outside the White House.

On one occasion, the image of a photojournalist went viral on social networks when Biden raised his hand and unconsciously showed a guide card during a press conference. The surprise was that It was not a common guide used by any speaker, but a list of extremely basic commands aimed at a person with a serious mental and cognitive disability.

Now, the special counsel’s report describes that Biden cannot even remember when his son died or the date he became vice president of the United States.

In September 2022, Biden called his friend, Republican Congresswoman Jackie Walorski, who died in a car accident, at a public event. Where is Jackie? Biden asked. She should be here, she stressed.

In January of this year, he cited one of the members of his cabinet, Health Minister Xavier Becerra, as sitting in one of the rooms of the White House where he was giving a speech with a woman he named as Jen, when in In reality, Becerra was not there.

Several surveys have focused on the age of Biden and Trump, when in reality it is not the age that should matter but the intellectual, physical and mental capacity of the individual to hold a position of that magnitude. And of course, that approach yields simply concerns about Biden’s age and not about his physical-mental state, which is what is truly important in any analysis.

History and recent episodes

Biden, who began his career as senator in 1972 and suffered tragic death of his wife and daughter In a car accident, you carry a history of mistakes and confusions of language and about people. Then in 2015, she lost another of her children to cancer. A sad and regrettable story that has undoubtedly taken its toll and influenced Joe Biden’s mental deterioration.

These episodes have multiplied in recent times and, along with a series of stumbles and falls that have gone viral on social media, have raised questions about his capacity for a second term.

The White House rejected special counsel Hur’s “inappropriate” criticism.

But daily events agree with Hur and others who have referred to the worsening of Joe Biden’s mental incapacity.

In his remarks Thursday night Biden got confused againand called the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al Sisi, president of Mexico.

On Sunday, evoked a conversation with his French counterpart Francois Mitterrand – who died almost 30 years ago-, instead of the current leader Emmanuel Macron. AND On Wednesday he mentioned that he had spoken in 2021 with former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who died in 2017.

Biden, who sometimes stutters, also appeared tired while answering questions at the White House on Tuesday after a speech about the crisis on the southern border with Mexico.

“This happens. It happens to all of us,” concluded the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, to try to quell the barrage of criticism and concerns about Biden. A topic that is becoming increasingly difficult to justify to public opinion.

It is not the age, but the physical-mental state

Many people over 90 years old reveal enviable mental and memory capacity.

With a long campaign ahead, the issue will become increasingly hot, said Robert Rowland, professor of Political Communication at the University of Kansas.

“You have to convince people that you have the cognitive abilities and strength,” the academic said.

In his report, special counsel Robert Hur considered that Biden should not face criminal charges for having withheld and disclosed classified federal government documents, but his comments about the president’s memory loss, whom he described as “a well-intentioned old man with bad memory”, become another big blow for his re-election.

Biden reacted angrily shortly afterwards, with his typical very slow movements, in a speech from the White House.

“I’m well-intentioned, I’m an old man and I know what I’m doing. I’m president and I’m going to put this country back on its feet.” “My memory is good,” he said, very angry that the report mentions that he forgot the day of his son Beau’s death. “How the hell dare you?” he said.

Hur insists in the report on Biden’s “diminished powers.” He said that he could not remember the date she became vice president under Barack Obama (2009-2017) and that, furthermore, he was not able to remember that her son Beau died in 2015.

“A man too incapable of accountability for the mismanagement of classified information is certainly not suitable for the Oval Office,” said the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, close to Trump.

And using a phrase from the report, fellow Republican Congressman Kevin Hern wrote: “A ‘well-intentioned old man with a bad memory’ who has access to the nuclear codes…”

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Source: With information from AFP, AP and other sources.