Fit to drop (out)? How Joe Biden has gone from exuberant candidate to vacant president in five long years - and left world wondering if he could see out another term in White House
Being Leader of the Free World is one of the most challenging jobs on the planet.
And the phrase 'ageing like a President' has come to define the toll that being Leader of the Free World takes on the incumbent.
The men who have served in America's highest office have very often left with grey hair and plenty of wrinkles.
But when Joe Biden won the 2020 election and entered the White House aged 78, he already had both those signs of ageing.
He also admitted that he was 'a gaffe machine' and he lived up to his reputation as he muddled up wars, forgot names, dozed off in a climate change summit and even mixed up fellow world leaders.
But there are growing concerns about the physical and mental costs for President Biden, who turns 82 on November 20 - 15 days after his election battle with Donald Trump comes to a head.
Last night he appeared frozen for approaching a minute while others danced around him at an event at the White House - and there have an increasing number of muddled speeches, trips, falls and even onstage snoozes in recent years, especially since the pandemic.
Eminent historian Christopher Phelps, an expert on US politics, told MailOnline today that the presidency has clearly taken its toll on Joe Biden. And millions of Americans will have his cognitive abilities on their mind when they vote - but Donald Trump's criminal conviction and controversies will be weighing heavily too.
President Joe Biden appeared to freeze as he attended a Juneteenth concert on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington last night
He said: 'The American presidency is a demanding and taxing job, and it surely must have taken a toll on Joe Biden, just as it has on other presidents. The job is nonstop and stressful.
'Americans vote primarily on the issues that matter in their lives. At the top this year are the economy, immigration, and abortion rights. To the extent that they take into account the personal qualities of the candidates, however, Joe Biden's cognitive fitness to serve will be in their minds, along with Donald Trump's criminal conviction, impeachments, and controversial persona'.
But he added: 'What the campaign will really come down to is policy -- voters' perception of whether the country is headed in the right direction, especially in the key battleground states, and which party's approach will be best for them and their families'.
MailOnline has compiled Biden’s biggest gaffes - and how physical problems have hampered him more in recent years.
2019
Former Vice President Joe Biden came out swinging at a campaign relaunch in 2019
Biden took to the stage in Philadelphia while running and wearing aviator sunglasses
Former Vice President Joe Biden came out swinging at a campaign launch in Philadelphia in May 2019 where he vowed that his presidential campaign would not be about 'hate' and 'anger'.
He had run on to stage - belying his age - to embrace his wife Jill before removing his aviators to turn his fire on Donald Trump.
'If the American people want a president to add to our division, to lead with a clenched fist, closed hand and a hard heart, to demonize the opponents and spew hatred — they don't need me. They've got President Donald Trump,' he said.
Biden also blasted the rival politician's 'alternative facts' on the economy and saying the Trump inherited current growth from the previous administration.
'Just like he inherited everything else in his life. Just like everything else he's been given in his life, he's in the process of squandering that, as well,' he said.
Face-off: Merle Gorman, 83, caused Vice President Biden to explode in rage after he said he had got his son Hunter a job and sold access to 'the president.' Biden hit back: 'You're a damn liar, man. That's not true.'
In December that year Joe was fired up again as he was embroiled in an exchange with an elderly Iowa voter and veteran.
Merle Gorman, who previously served in the United States Marine Corp and is also a retired farmer, made international news after he accused Biden of selling access to the Presidency by sending son Hunter to Ukraine to work for a gas company Burisma Holdings.
'I am 83 and I know damn well I don't have the mental faculties I did when I was 30 years old,' Mr Gorman said in the viral clip.
It caused Biden to blow up in rage, labeling the elderly Gorman as 'a damn liar'.
He then went on: 'You want to check my shape man, let's do push-ups together here, man. Let's run. Let's do whatever you want to do. Let's take an IQ test. Ok?'
2020
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally Thursday, March 2, 2020, at Texas Southern University in Houston
In March 2020 Joe Biden yesterday told his supporters to vote on 'Super Thursday' and botched a line from the Declaration of Independence in his latest campaign blunder.
The then 77-year-old was speaking at a campaign rally in Houston, Texas ahead of Super Tuesday voting that would decide a third of the Democratic delegates on offer.
Biden told the rally: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, all men and women created by the... you know, you know the thing!'
They 'are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,' were the words he was searching for.
Later in his speech he bounded into another blunder as he told his fans, 'Tomorrow is Super Thursday.' He swiftly corrected himself, as the crowd laughed at the gaffe, adding: 'I tell you what I'm rushing ahead aren't I.'
Days later Joe Biden was on the offensive again.
He told a Michigan plant worker he was 'full of s***' and to 'not be such a horse's a**' after the man accused the former vice president of being anti-Second Amendment and wanting to take Americans' guns away.
Joe Biden told a Michigan plant worker he was 'full of s***' and to 'not be such a horse's a**' after the worker accused the former vice president of being anti-Second Amendment and wanting to take away Americans' guns
Biden was visiting a Fiat Chrysler plant in Detroit Tuesday morning before heading to Ohio where he watched results come in.
In video captured by CBS News, a man dressed in a hard hat can be heard telling Biden he's 'actively trying to end our Second Amendment right and take away our guns.'
Biden then responded with an expletive, saying the man was 'full of s**t'.
As another individual jumps in, Biden can be heard telling the person 'shush.'
'I support the Second Amendment,' Biden then said.
He then explained that like yelling 'fire' in a building, like First Amendment freedoms, Second Amendment freedoms are also not absolute.
'I have a shotgun, I have a 20-gauge, a 12-gauge, my sons hunt,' Biden continued. 'Guess what? You're not allowed to own any weapons. I'm not taking your gun away, at all. Do you need 100 rounds?'
In the May Joe Biden apologised to black business leaders for telling popular radio show host Charlamagne tha God that he 'ain't black' if he can't discern the better presidential candidate between Biden and President Trump.
Vice President Joe Biden (right) appeared on 'The Breakfast Club' Friday with popular host Charlamagne tha God (left)
At the conclusion of the interview, Joe Biden told Charlamagne tha God 'if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black'
'I should not have been so cavalier. I've never, never, ever taken the African-American community for granted,' Biden said, according to the Associated Press. 'I shouldn't have been such a wise guy.'
Biden added that, 'No one should have to vote for any party based on their race, their religion, their background,' on a conference call with the U.S. Black Chamber of Commerce.
Biden, the Democrats' presumptive presidential nominee, made the controversial comment to Charlamagne tha God at the end of a contentious 18-minute interview.
'I will tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black,' Biden said.
Charlamagne replied: 'It has nothing to do with Trump'.
2021
The president looked to be dozing off as one COP26 speaker underscored the importance of taking action to save the climate
He opened his eyes and appeared to liven up when an aide walked up to him to chat
President Biden's whirlwind European tour appeared to be catching up with him, as the 78-year-old was caught resting his eyes during the opening remarks of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.
The president looked to be dozing off as one speaker underscored the importance of taking action to save the climate. He opened his eyes and appeared to liven up when an aide walked up to him to chat.
Biden then sat forward and rubbed his eyes as Italy's prime minister took the stage. The latest slip from the president came just hours after he reverted to pre-approved list of reporters when asking questions at the end of the G20 summit in Rome.
The then 78-year-old Biden and his fitness for the job have been scrutinized by critics, including Donald Trump, while his dropping poll numbers have put pressure on his administration and mounting crises he faces.
Later on, Biden himself took the stage as to deliver his own warning on the impending doom of climate change.
In March 2021, Biden, then 78, was boarding the aircraft at Joint Base Andrews just before noon for a flight to Atlanta when he stumbled.
He gripped onto the railing, steadied himself and kept going but lost his footing a second time and then a third.
On the third trip, he fell to his knees. He got back up then carried on up the stairs before giving a salute at the top then disappearing into the aircraft.
Once on the plane, White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that he was '100 percent fine'.
The White House blamed the wind. But it wasn't the only time he would struggle navigating the steps that have proved tricky for his predecessors, including Gerald Ford.
MARCH 2021: Biden's first stumble as he bounded up the stairs of Air Force One. The White House blamed the wind for his struggles
He was on his way to Atlanta when he hit the steps, just two months after his inauguration
2022
With a midterm election in 2022 shaping up to be a tough hill to climb for his Democratic Party, President Joe Biden was perhaps recalling fonder times when he mistakenly claimed it was 2020 in January 2022.
Biden, then 79, was speaking from the White House during a briefing on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The oldest president ever elected was saying that a lot of good could happen in the coming year but that people would have to get vaccinated against the virus.
'There's a lot of reason to be hopeful in 2020. But for God's sake, please take advantage of what is available,' the president said. With 2022 just four days old, the president could be forgiven for getting the year wrong - but most people who do the same usually give the year before, and not the one two years prior.
Biden has been prone to gaffes and misspeaking throughout his decades-long political career. He has multiple times referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as 'President Harris'.
President Joe Biden accidentally stated that Americans have 'a lot of reason to be hopeful in 2020' in a televised Covid briefing from the White House in 2022
In June 2022, Biden was at his beach house with Jill for the weekend when he went out for a bike ride and stopped briefly to answer questions from the press.
He was stopped in front of a group of reporters when he toppled to the side and hit the tarmac.
Gasps could be heard as he lay on the ground for 10 seconds before being helped up by the Secret Service.
The White House later said his foot got caught on a pedal while he was trying to dismount and he wasn't hurt.
Biden, the US oldest-ever president, is pictured sitting on the pavement after the fall, which transpired around 9:30 am Saturday, caught up in the bike's frame
Gasps rang out after the president unexpectedly fell Saturday as he was trying to dismount his bike to chat with a crowd who had gathered along a Rehoboth Beach bike path
In October 2022 Joe Biden apologized in the Oval Office to deceased Indiana Representative Jackie Walorski's family as they met the president just days after he apparently forgot the congresswoman was dead.
The late representative's mother Martha 'Mert' Walorski, 83, told Biden, 79, that her daughter is 'in heaven' at a bill signing where he banned cameras..''
During an event on hunger and food insecurity on Wednesday, the president thanked lawmakers for their work on a plan to end hunger in the US by 2030, when he suddenly tried to locate Jackie Walorski.
'Jackie, are you here?' Biden said, interrupting his own remarks.
'Where's Jackie? She must not be here,' Biden concluded.
The White House engaged in a confusing and nonsensical explanation for why the president was looking for the late representative, as White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly claimed that the president did not forget that Walorski was dead.
President Biden asked a crowd at a hunger conference Wednesday to point out Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski - almost two months after she was killed in a car crash in Indiana
She insisted that it's 'not unusual' for people to say the names of deceased individuals when they are 'at top of mind,' a phrase she continued to repeat throughout her briefing Wednesday during questions from multiple outlets including CNN, CBS and The Washington Post.
Jean-Pierre said Walorski was at the forefront of the president's mind because she helped with the hunger plan.
2023
In February 2023 Biden was ending a visit to Europe when he nearly fell on Air Force One's steps.
The 80-year-old was climbing the steps with his customary vigor when he misplaced his footing.
He did not fall, however, and used his hands to support himself.
FEBRUARY 2023: Biden concluded his *trip* to Ukraine and Poland by falling up the stairs of Air Force One as he was headed back to the United States
March 2023 President Joe Biden once again had trouble navigating Air Force One's stairs - briefly stumbling as he boarded the presidential aircraft Sunday as he departed from Selma, Alabama
Another one of Biden's brief wobbles on the stairs came during a trip to Alabama.
He was walking up the Air Force One steps when he appeared to lose his balance, and carried on.
And in the May Biden tripped as he walked down the stairs of the Itsukushima Shrine in his rush to greet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The president was running late - all the other G7 leaders had arrived on Miyajima Island and were waiting on him to begin the tour of the holy site - when he stumbled and caught himself before he fell.
He and Kishida continued on as if the slip didn't happen, joining the rest of the heads of state to see the iconic 'floating' torii gate.
The evening on the famous island, known for its wild deer, capped the end of a long first day of the summit.
After the tour, the world leaders - the heads of the United States, Japan, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and European Union - had a private dinner on the island.
President Joe Biden tripped as he walked down the stairs of the Itsukushima Shrin
A fall in June 2023 at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, where he had to be helped back up, raised more questions about his balance.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in May found just one third of Americans believe Biden is in good enough physical health for the job and six in 10 said he does not have the mental sharpness.
Doctors have determined he is healthy, but have said his gait remains 'stiff' and it could get worse as time goes on.
Biden looks back at a sandbag after he fell on the stage at the Air Force Academy Graduation Ceremony in Colorado
In the same month President Joe Biden confused Ukraine for Iraq twice in the span of 24 hours, despite having a cheat sheet when addressing the Wagner uprising against Vladimir Putin.
Biden was asked on the South Lawn how damaged Putin was in the aftermath of the aborted uprising by the Russian mercenary group.
The president said that Putin had 'absolutely' been weakened, but added, 'it's hard to tell really,' when asked to what extent.
'He's clearly losing the war in Iraq. He's losing the war at home and has become a bit of a pariah around the world,' Biden said, clearly meaning to say Ukraine.
The night before, however, the president was speaking at a fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Maryland, when he made the same mistake, according to White House transcripts.
President Joe Biden answered questions on the South Lawn ahead of his trip to Chicago. During the Q&A he referred to the Ukraine conflict as the 'war in Iraq'
President Joe Biden walked to Marine One carrying a cheat sheet
'Think about this: If anybody told you - and my staff wasn't so sure, either - that we'd be able to bring all of Europe together in the onslaught on Iraq and get NATO to be completely united, I think they would have told you it's not likely. The one thing Putin counted on was being able to split NATO.'
The White House's copy of the remarks had Iraq crossed out and put 'Ukraine' in brackets to correct Biden.
Joe Biden seemingly wandered off the UN stage without shaking hands with Brazil's Lula at the end of a joint speech in September 2023.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 77, looked visibly irritated after the two leaders shared a stage to speak about their initiative to improve workers' rights in each country.
But their diplomatic meeting got off to a labored start when Biden, then 80, shuffled into a seven-foot Brazilian flag, leaving it teetering as he approached the podium.
The president made a rambling speech about his 'economic vision to rebuild our economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down' while Lula watched on from his right flank.
Meanwhile, during Lula's speech Biden fumbled with his headset, which he was using to hear a translated version.
Biden appeared to leave Lula hanging at the end of the diplomatic presentation, awkwardly saluting the audience before shuffling off stage
As Biden turned his back on the Brazilian president, Lula looked annoyed and made a swiping gesture with his arm. They departed awkwardly from opposite sides of the stage
'Can you hear me President Biden? This is an historical moment for Brazil, and for the US,' Lula said at the start of his speech.
'President Biden can you hear me?' Lula asked again, appearing to lose patience as Biden grunted in response. 'You can?' he asked, turning to Biden. 'Yes, good.'
Biden continued to look confused as he grappled with the headset while Lula went on with his speech. At one point Biden dropped his earpiece and raised his eyebrows in frustration.
2024
President Joe Biden squatted down during ceremonies commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France last week, then awkwardly held the position before correcting himself while other dignitaries remained standing.
The odd moment came after Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron greeted surviving heroes of the Normandy invasion, as a military band played somber music.
Biden, 81, then bent his knees as if preparing to sit before momentarily freezing.
The move seemed to prompt First Lady Jill Biden to cover her mouth – raising questions about whether she quietly tried to offer him advice.
Later on he was seen turning around - confusing his wife and the Macrons.
President Joe Biden squatted down during ceremonies commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France on Thursday, then awkwardly held the position before correcting himself while other dignitaries remained standing.
His wife Jill - who sometimes guides her husband off stage during public events - covered her mouth and scratched the area above her upper lip. It was difficult to tell whether she let him know it wasn't yet the right time to sit.
The unusual moment came during a day of moving encounters with some of the last members of the 'Greatest Generation.'
President Joe Biden sparked concerns on Monday night when he appeared to freeze for the better part of a minute before his speech became slurred past the point of comprehension during a lively Juneteenth celebration at the White House.
During the event ahead of the national holiday next week, the Commander-in-Chief seemed to short-circuit as the rest of the crowd, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, grooved along to the lively band.
Philonise Floyd, brother of the late George Floyd, flanked Biden on his left and eventually noticed the concerning pause he was taking and wrapped his arm around him in an apparent effort to help.
Floyd was able to get a response out of Biden when he extended a 'pound it' fist in his direction, which the president met with his own fist.
But Biden would go on to have a further meltdown as he delivered a speech following the musical performance.
Pictured: Joe Biden, Dough Ehmoff, Kamala Harris, Philonise Floyd, Keeta Floyd. Biden sparks concerns as he appears to FREEZE during the Juneteenth celebration concert at the White House alongside a dancing Kamala Harris - before Floyd - brother of the late George Floyd - wraps his arm around him
The president delivered a message about Juneteenth to the audience but suffered another deeply off-putting moment when his speech became slurred beyond comprehension.
