Running for re-election, United States President Joe Biden’s recent appearances after the debate debacle against Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump have heightened concerns within the Democratic party leadership. A swelling percentage of the party’s committed voter base, donors, and leaders have been urging him to drop out of the race to avoid what seems to be an inevitable loss in the November 5 Presidential elections. Strikingly, while attempting to assure Democrats that he is still a strong candidate to defeat Donald Trump despite a ‘bad debate night’, his recent string of gaffes has further strengthened concerns about his ‘cognitive and mental health’.
Incidentally, in the past few days, 81-year-old US President Joe Biden has ‘erred’ on several occasions on trivial things like the current year or misidentifying himself as Kamala Harris and referring to himself as a ‘black woman’. However, despite repeated media inquiries, he categorically refused to undergo an ‘independent neurological exam’.
In a recent media interaction, Biden asserted that he would only drop out from the Presidential race if the ‘Lord Almighty’ came down on the Earth and asked him to do so. During the interview with ABC, first after the 27th June debate against Trump, Biden cited his “poor health” as the reason for the ‘bad episode’. He, however, claimed that the poor performance during the debate was not because of his declining cognitive and mental health. Rather, he claimed he was sick and suffering from a cold during the debate night. Earlier, he stated that he was tired during the debate because of the long international travel and fell asleep on the stage.
Responding to the ABC anchor’s repeated queries asking him whether he would undergo an independent cognitive or neurological examination, Biden claimed that he takes a cognitive test “every day” and his test is “running the world”.
He replied, “Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day, I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world.” He even reiterated that he believes that he will be fit for the job for the next four years.
He added, “Yes, I am (being honest about my capabilities), because George, the last thing I want to do is not be able to meet that.”
Later, he was asked whether he would step aside if people convinced him that he wouldn’t be able to defeat Trump. To which, he replied, “It depends on — on if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that.” He then laughingly added that “the Lord Almighty is not coming down.”
Furthermore, in a recent interview with Philadelphia’s WURD radio station, US President Joe Biden referred to himself as “the first Black woman to serve with a Black president.” It is pertinent to note that he confused his own identity with Kamala Harris and mixed up his tenure as vice president under Barack Obama with Kamala Harris’ current role as his deputy. For those unversed, Biden was the Vice-President of the US under the country’s first black President Obama while Kamala Harris is the first woman of colour to hold the office of Vice President.
Biden tells a Philadelphia radio station that he's "proud" to be "the first black woman to serve with a black president" 🤔 pic.twitter.com/kP5J7Q9lYy
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 4, 2024
Addressing a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday, Biden erred and claimed that he would again defeat Donald Trump in 2020, rather than the current year 2024 when elections are due in the United States. He said, “Well, let me say this as clearly as I can- I’m staying in the race. I’ll beat Donald Trump. I will beat him again in 2020.” He, however, then corrected his mistake and said, “I am going to do that again in 2024.”
At the G7 summit in Italy Biden appeared to walk away from world leaders and be brought back to the group by Giorgia Meloni
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) June 14, 2024
Read more about Biden's gaffes from @Tony_Diver below ⬇️https://t.co/Qd9AuZmWMa pic.twitter.com/kn0mkBMwAM
Joe Biden forgets to shake hands with Brazilian President, Lula reacts angrily. pic.twitter.com/Ozj1iyrD0V
— The Poll Lady (@ThePollLady) September 21, 2023
Joe Biden shakes hands with Chuck Schumer, immediately forgets he shook his hand, tries again. pic.twitter.com/P1ini2ZCAp
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 13, 2024
Joe Biden vs The Invisible Man
— Conservative Brief (@ConservBrief) May 21, 2024
Here's President Biden, looking confused again and reaching to shake the hand of ABSOLUTELY NO ONE before he goes shuffling off for nap-time.
Has Biden hurt America's standing on the world stage as President?#BidenDementia #WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/b1EVufpyda
On several occasions, he has been caught on camera in a state of confusion—stunned, shell-shocked, mixing up people, places, or events, digressing from the center stage, failing to reach the podium, tripping on stage, airplanes, or shaking hands and talking with imaginary people, rumbling and mumbling incoherently in mid-sentences.On many occasions, military personnel, officials, or others have been caught on camera guiding him where to go. Likewise, once Former US President Barack Obama was seen on camera, gently guiding Biden off the stage by nudging him forward with his hand on Biden’s back.
However, his visible poor health has not just become a cause of concern for the Democrats but also the Non-Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) alliance leaders as well the entire world.
Degrading health of the World’s ‘most powerful leader’ and Commander-in-Chief of a Nuclear Superpower a grave global cause for concern
It is pertinent to note that after the fall of the USSR, the US enjoyed hegemony in the geopolitical world order for several decades which gave it a lopsided influence on multi-lateral institutions like the UN, and World Bank, and sway over global politics, making the US President the most powerful leader in the world. While the US dominance has diminished to a great extent with the emergence of other global players including China, India, Japan, and EU member nations, the US President is still regarded as one of the most powerful leaders in the world, if not the most powerful.
The US President enjoys a substantial or veto-esque power on several global issues and crises, and his/her decision could halt/end ongoing wars, or start new ones. A minor fender bender by the US in the ongoing crises in Europe, the Middle East, or the Indo-Pacific involving nuclear-powered countries like Russia, and China could not only escalate the war horizontally and vertically, it could also take the world to the brink of a Third World War, which could potentially be a Nuclear war. For example – the Ukraine-Russia war or the China-Taiwan crisis could end up spiralling down the roads of the Cuban Missile Crisis which could this time lead to fatal consequences rather than a de-escalation which requires the utmost presence of ‘sound mind’ of all stakeholders involved, particularly the US President.
While Biden boasted that he is giving “cognitive tests every day” by “running the world”, on several occasions he had irked other leaders, especially Russian President Vladimir Putin by describing him as a “killer”, crazy Son of a bi**h and whatnot. Now, with his questionable ‘cognitive and mental health’ and his issues with misidentification and mixing up things, his verbal diatribe could endanger world peace by directly pitting the two largest nuclear-powered nations against each other.
Along similar lines, the military-industrial complex, arms and pharma lobby which have a notorious stronghold in the US, could run amuck under the leadership of a frail US President who reportedly struggles to function in the office post 4 PM. Apart from these decade-strong lobbies, the new woke lobby gaining steam in the US could spread its fang throughout the world under the regime of a US President who is “genuinely confused about his state of being” rendering more kids prone to gender transform surgeries for so-called not identifying with their assigned gender at birth.
In the absence or ‘with consent’ from a confused President in office, these lobbies could tighten their grip on power and start posing more challenges to the US and the world. In the absence of a mentally sound President in office, the lobbies or any other power, without any accountability, may exploit the power vacuum, leading to a nightmare for the world.
Furthermore, the US is currently reeling under a historic $34 trillion debt. Under a confused and ailing US President, the uncontrolled implosion of the US dollar or its economy could trigger an economic disaster for the world which still is heavily reliant on dollar trade and the liquidity and economic policy of the US. An unwarranted “gaffe” by the US President can not only trigger a conflict or a war, it could also set in motion a domino effect for global economic slump.
It is paramount that the US President, whose decisions impact the global political and economic order, be of sound mind and not add to the anxiety of an already chaotic and warring world.
