OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
If you have been paying attention to Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential election campaign or during his first year in the White House you may have questions about his health, mental and otherwise.
But what was once whispered about in private is now being openly talked about as people are expressing their concerns about his mental wellbeing, The Daily Mail reported.
“Everyone knew President Reagan was losing it by the time he came to the end of his term,” a source who used to work in the White House said. “Reagan left office when he was 77. Biden is 79 and only in the first year.”
That is a terrifying thought when you consider that the man appears to have mental gaffes frequently and the media usually ignores it.
“It’s sad and a little frightening that the commander-in-chief, the guy in charge of nuclear weapons and who represents America, looks this confused, weak, feeble and uncertain,” former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said.
The Mail reported:
At a recent event, bystanders watched as he was introduced to colleagues of ten or 20 years standing without seeming to know who they were.
Critics who once whispered about his mental deterioration are now openly saying he has dementia, possibly Alzheimer’s.
They point to the fact he needs ‘cue cards’ to prompt him when meeting world leaders or facing the press.
In September, Biden forgot the name of the Australian Prime Minister, calling him ‘that fellow Down Under’.
Previously, he appeared to struggle to remember his Defence Secretary’s name, calling him ‘the guy who runs that outfit over there.’
On the day before his 79th birthday Biden went in for a colonoscopy and was under anesthesia, during which time Kamala Harris was acting president, The Daily Mail reported.
The White House said Harris would work out of her office in the West Wing, meaning she will not be in the Oval Office as she assumes presidential power.
Biden’s motorcade arrived at Walter Reed Military Center at 8:51 a.m. ET on Friday morning, where he was to undergo his first physical as president. It comes the day before he 79th birthday. Biden, wearing a face mask, waved as he went inside.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced early Friday morning that Biden would be examined, adding later he ‘will undergo a routine colonoscopy.’
“As was the case when President George W. Bush had the same procedure in 2002 and 2007, and following the process set out in the Constitution, President Biden will transfer power to the Vice President for the brief period of time when he is under anesthesia. The Vice President will work from her office in the West Wing during this time,” she said.
But the procedure came as many have begun questioning the health and fitness of the near octogenarian president.
In a new poll voters expressed doubts about Biden’s health and fitness, Politico reported.
“Only 40 percent of voters surveyed agreed with the statement that Biden ‘is in good health,’ while 50 percent disagreed. That 10-percentage-point gap — outside the poll’s margin of error — represents a massive 29-point shift since October 2020, when Morning Consult last surveyed the question and found voters believed Biden was in good health by a 19-point margin,” it said.
And when it came to his mental fitness voters were split evenly on the question, with 46 percent saying he is and 48 percent believing that he is not. But in a poll that was taken last October, voters thought he was mentally fit by a margin of 21-points.
It also comes as another poll showed that the majority of Americans want Biden to step aside and allow someone else to be the Democrat nominee in the 2024 presidential election.
According to a Hill-HarrisX poll, most Americans want Biden to step aside for another candidate to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024.
The poll found that a whopping 61% of voters prefer that Biden not seek a second term in office.
Just 24% of respondents supported a reelection bid, and another 15% said they were unsure if he should run again.