Health experts have once again questioned the cognitive abilities of US President Joe Biden after he bungled his way through an interview on Afghanistan with George Stephanopoulos of ABC. Joe Biden has earlier suffered from two brain aneurysms and a heart condition that causes dizziness and confusion.
Top cardiologists told Mainonline that both the conditions are linked to cognitive memory difficulties and confusion, as well as dementia. Dr. Aseem Malhotra, an NHS consultant, told Mailonline, ‘Just as a doctor observing him, given his medical history and age, I’m worried about early onset dementia… I would be worried about anyone exhibiting issues with recall and memory at Joe Biden’s age.’
Dr. Amit Bajaj, associate professor in speech science at Emerson University in Boston, Massachusetts, too concurred that Joe Biden could be committing more and more gaffes due to a cognitive decline due to his old age.
Dr. Bajaj said, ‘He has a reputation for gaffes. It’s hard to say if it is interlacing with anticipatory anxiety… I think there are several contributing factors. Part of is the speech. Part of it is cognitively where he might be at because he is old. But the relative influence of any one of them is uncertain. It’s probably a mix of both.’
But others disagreed and said that his gaffes are not necessarily indicative of a cognitive decline. James Rowe, a dementia and neurodegeneration expert at Cambridge University, said that such gaffes ‘are common and do not in themselves indicate a condition, let alone dementia’.
Professor Sophie Scott, an expert in cognitive neuroscience, told Mailonline, ‘Forgetfulness is a normal part of ageing – names in particular can be a problem for people as they age, maybe because there is not much information in a name to help you to connect it to the person.’
Joe Biden gaffe during ABC interview
During the interview with Stephanopoulos, Joe Biden claimed incorrectly that his late son Beau served in the Navy in Afghanistan before correcting himself that he served in the Army in Iraq. The moments where he committed the gaffes were not aired but were revealed in the transcript that were revealed.
Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson had said earlier that ABC had selectively edited the interview to remove portions where Biden appeared incoherent. Carlson remarked, “ABC News appears to have chosen to edit out portions that made Joe Biden look, how to put it, not presidential, incoherent, confused.”
“We think it’s worth knowing what happened, especially in a moment of national crisis,” he added.
Biden’s past gaffes
Americans had questioned his mental health after Joe Biden made an appearance on a CNN Townhall. The appearance was marked by the US President rambling incoherently and other unfortunate errors.
In another video that went viral on social media recently, Biden responded to a question saying, “Are there people in the Republican Party who think we are sucking the blood out of kids?” People had questioned who was running the country, given Biden’s health condition.
Earlier in May, veterans had questioned his health and his fitness to lead the United States of America. “The mental and physical condition of the Commander in Chief cannot be ignored. He must be able to quickly make accurate national security decisions involving life and limb anywhere, day or night,” they had said in a letter.
Former President Donald Trump had repeatedly questioned Biden’s mental health during the 2020 presidential campaign, but the mainstream media and ‘experts’ brushed aside concerns and dubbed it a ‘conspiracy theory’.
