OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The immediate reaction from Democrats and liberal commentators on TV to President Joe Biden’s angry State of the Union Address was positive, with most saying he appeared to have a renewed vigor that refuted claims by Republicans and other Biden critics that his mental acuity is less than ideal for a leader of the free world.
But just a day after he gave his anger-filled address, a video clip of Biden speaking at a campaign event in Pennsylvania appeared to show him struggling for words again while getting his role as president confused with when he was a member of Congress.
Phil Holloway, a columnist for Townhall.com, posted the clip on his X account, writing: “It wore off” — a suggestion that Biden may have been medicated for his SOTU Address.
It wore off
— Phil Holloway ✈️ (@PhilHollowayEsq) March 9, 2024
Others chimed in with similar remarks, per Revolver News:
“Makes you wonder if they are doing this on purpose. Complete change from SOTU.”
“They can’t give him the good stuff too often.”
“Give him more drugs he needs them. Hunters Whitehouse cocaine”
“They tried to put him out less than 72 hours later. Bold.”
“I called it “Hunters bump.”
“Uppers always wear off quickly…”
“It was obvious Joe was under the influence.”
New questions about Biden’s mental capacity come following Special Counsel Robert Hur’s damning report regarding Biden’s mishandling of classified information that was released last month.
Hur’s 388-page report, which took the White House by surprise and sent shockwaves through the administration, documented Biden’s memory loss dating back nearly a decade, which puts him in 25th Amendment territory.
Concerns that Biden may have been medicated for his address went beyond political circles.
A report on Friday quoted a psychiatrist who has worked with elderly and dementia patients for years who claimed that Biden appeared to be on some form of medication during his raucous, anger-filled speech to Congress a day earlier.
Dr. Carole Lieberman, a forensic psychiatrist based in Beverly Hills, said that “Biden exhibited signs of stimulant use to mask cognitive decline in his amped-up, aggressive” speech, the Washington Times reported.
Biden, 81, often appeared to speed through his remarks and raise his voice despite the fact that he had a microphone in front of him. The Times said that “speed and volume of speech can be a sign of using Adderall or another amphetamine,” according to Lieberman.
“If you look at how Joe Biden usually is — slow and stumbling — compared to how he was during the State of the Union — fiery and angry — these are signs that are typical for someone taking Adderall or any amphetamine,” she said.
The Times noted further:
Dr. Lieberman, who has not personally examined the president, said the signs of potential pharmaceutical use go beyond how Mr. Biden spoke during the nearly 90-minute speech, but also in his mannerisms.
For example, Mr. Biden typically rests his hands on the podium while delivering a speech from the teleprompter. During the State of the Union, he frequently gestured and moved with his hands at a rapid rate, she said.
Other times, Biden slurred his words, which is not out of the ordinary for him, she explained, but he did so at a much faster, more animated pace, suggesting he was “psychopharmacology helped.”
“It was a word salad on speed,” she said.
Biden’s unusually amped-up speech delivery also caught the attention of many other seasoned political observers, the Times reported.
“No one is going to remember a single thing Biden says tonight. Everyone is going to remember how weirdly amped up he is and how bizarrely fast he’s speaking,” former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer wrote on X.
Frank Luntz, a GOP pollster and political consultant, noted on the X platform that Biden’s address was “the loudest State of the Union speech I can remember.”
“Let’s see whether undecided voters like being yelled out,” he said.
