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Most of the people interviewed by the outlet who were critical of Biden's performance were Republicans, although some Democrats said the president showed his age in several exchanges. These interviewees participated in meetings with Biden or were briefed on them contemporaneously, including administration officials and other Democrats who did not express concerns about how the president handled the meetings.
When meeting with congressional leaders in January to negotiate a deal to send additional funding to Ukraine, Biden spoke so softly at times that some people struggled to hear him, five people familiar with the meeting told The Wall Street Journal. The president read from notes to make obvious points, paused for extended periods of time and even closed his eyes for so long that some people in the meeting wondered if he had tuned out.
In February, when Biden met one-on-one with House Speaker Mike Johnson, the president said a recent policy change by his administration that jeopardizes some big-energy projects was just a study, according to six people who were told at the time about what Johnson recalled from the meeting. Johnson was concerned the president had forgotten about the details of his own policy.
Last year, when Biden was negotiating with House Republicans to lift the debt ceiling, his demeanor and command of the details appeared to change from one day to the next, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and two others familiar with the talks said. He appeared sharp with loose and spontaneous exchanges with Republicans on one day, and mumbled and seemed to rely on notes on other days.
"I used to meet with him when he was vice president. I’d go to his house. He's not the same person," McCarthy said.
During a campaign event in Detroit last month, Biden suggested he was vice president during the COVID-19 pandemic, which started during the Trump administration. The following day, during a Rose Garden event celebrating Jewish American Heritage month, Biden initially said one of the U.S. hostages held in Gaza was a guest at the White House event before correcting himself.
In January, Biden mixed up two of his Hispanic cabinet secretaries, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
At a February fundraiser in New York, he recalled speaking to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl at the 2021 Group of Seven meeting, despite the fact that Kohl died in 2017. During a different fundraiser that month, he said that during the 2021 G-7 summit he had spoken to former French President François Mitterrand, who died in 1996.
“I know what the Hell I’m doing!” - Biden
I think it’s despicable that the formerly reputable WSJ has become a breeding ground for right wing hate.
I can’t believe they think this 81 year old isn’t as sharp as a tack!
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/joe-biden-age-election-2024-8ee15246