White House staffer who works closely with Biden reveals disturbing decline in president's abilities - and says he should stand down from 2024 campaign
A White House staffer who has worked closely with President Joe Biden for years has revealed how the commander-in-chief's mental acuity has seemingly declined.
The senior White House official who worked with the 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 defeat Trump.
That official, who declined to be named so he could speak openly, said the president has shown more and more signs of his age in recent months - speaking more slowly, haltingly and quietly.
Biden has also appeared more fatigued in private, the staffer said, concluding that he should not continue to seek re-election.
Others in Biden's inner circle have noted that he seems to trail off mid-sentence and freeze in public.
A senior White House staffer who has worked with President Joe Biden for years revealed how the president's mental acuity has been declining in private
The White House staffer concluded that the president should not seek re-election
Last month, the president apparently froze at a Juneteenth White House celebration.
He was seen staring blankly ahead as Vice President Kamala Harris danced beside him. In a speech at the event, he also seemed to slur his words.
Less than a week later, Biden again stopped abruptly at a fundraiser in Los Angeles, staring blankly over the crowd for several seconds.
But a White House representative dismissed reports of a frozen reaction to DailyMail.com as 'fakes' and 'lies,' explaining his reaction was simply 'taking in an applauding crowd for a few seconds.'
In more recent days, donors were left stunned when Biden described a French cemetery in Normandy as 'Italian' at a fundraiser in the Hamptons, insiders told the Washington Post.
When Biden later made an appearance at the New Jersey governor's private villa, sources said he spoke so softly that a crowd of 50 people had to crane their necks to hear him speak from a teleprompter.
Then on Thursday, Biden seemingly mixed himself up 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, first black woman... to serve with a black president,' he said, confusingly.
Biden wandered off during a demonstration by parachutists at the annual G7 meeting and was stage managed by the Italian prime minister
'Proud to be involved of the first black woman on the Supreme Court. There's so much that we can do because, look... we're the United States of America.'
He appeared to be highlighting his appointment of Kamala Harris as the United States first black female vice president.
But Biden himself was previously vice president, which is likely what he was referring to in 'to serve with a black president.'
Even politicians in other countries have apparently noticed the American president's mental issues.
Last month, Biden wandered off during a demonstration by parachutists at the annual G7 meeting and was stage managed by the Italian prime minister.
He then skipped out on a major dinner, as the Italian media reported that Biden was 'tired' after a full day of events.
Three French officials who helped organize Biden's visit to France have said their US counterparts' reactions to the options offered for a state visit in Paris and D-Day commemorations in Normandy made them believe the president's health must be fragile.
They were told the president needed some time to rest and they felt Biden's entourage was very protective of him.
Biden aides have been trying to limit President Biden's on-air stumbles for years
Aides have shortened the size of the staircase up to Air Force One after a series of falls
For years, White House aides have been trying to reduce the president's on-air stumbles - shortening the size of the staircase to board Air Force One, with a Secret Service agent standing at the bottom of the stairs as an extra precaution.
Aides have also built-in recovery stretches to his schedules - long weekends or extended stays in either his home state of Delaware or at the presidential retreat at Camp David.
Biden's public interactions - especially those with journalists - have even 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 shape, both physically and mentally, and will be able to effectively serve another term until 2028 — when he would reach 86 years old.
Medical experts have suggested the president may have Parkinson's
But medical experts have suggested that Biden's constant freezing could be a sign of Parkinson's - which can also lead to thinking difficulties and cognitive problems, as well as depression and anxiety.
More than 90,000 people in the US are diagnosed with the condition every year, most of who are men over 60.
While symptoms such as tremors are well known, Parkinson's disease can also cause stiffness and problems with moving the limbs and face, as well as slurred speech.
It is also known to cause cognitive impairment — affecting memory, concentration and even mood.
Symptoms of the disease worsen with 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.
However, neither Biden nor anyone on his team have ever proposed or confirmed he has the condition.
Meanwhile, concerns about his age and mental acuity grew after he gave an abysmal performance at the CNN debate last week.
He trailed off mid-sentence at times, and stood slack-jawed while Trump spoke.
Once the debate was finished, Biden was seen standing around his podium before First Lady Jill Biden eventually ushered him off the stage.
Biden gave ABC News' George Stephanopoulos a 107-word stream of gibberish when asked to explain his car crash of a debate performance against former President Donald Trump
The president later blamed 'exhaustion' and being 'sick' for his performance at the debate - claiming he even had to take a COVID test before the debate, he told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in a one-on-one interview.
'The whole way I prepared, nobody's fault, mine. Nobody's fault but mine,' the president said, before launching into a rambling explanation.
'I - I prepared what I usually would do sittin' down as I did come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail. And I realized - partway through that, you know, all - I get quoted the New York Times had me down, ten points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is.
'The fact of the matter is, what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times,' he said of Trump.
'I couldn't - I mean, the way the debate ran, not - my fault, nobody else's fault, no one else's fault,' he went on.
But Biden's performance in the interview once again failed to convince even those in his own party that he has the mental fortitude required for four more years.
Words like 'heartbroken', 'doomed' and 'a f***king disaster' were all used by more than half a dozen Congress Democrats, according to NBC.
At least five Democrats have since called on the president to drop out of the race, and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner is pushing 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 assembling top Democrats to discuss the matter in a Zoom meeting on Sunday, Politico reports.
Yet Democrats have admitted it would be difficult for another candidate to earn the nomination this year and if Biden doesn't agree to step aside, the prospects become essentially impossible.
Delegates were finalized at a selection on June 22 and were chosen on a state-by-state basis to represent support for the president in the nomination process.
There are 43,933 pledged Democratic delegates for 2024, and to win the presidential nomination a candidate must earn a majority of them – estimated at 1,968 this year.
Under Democrat party rules, delegates are 'pledged' to a candidate - meaning they 'shall in all good conscience' reflect the views of those who elected them.
There is no official penalty if a delegate votes differently – but if a Biden delegate simply sits out of the first round of balloting instead of backing the president, their vote would not count towards anyone.
