President Joe Biden is 81 years old.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
But it is a reality that many people at that age have problems with memory, as in recalling names and a myriad of other things of daily life that don’t challenge a younger person.
Again, no shame in that, but when it interferes with job ability, it can be a problem. Especially in a critical position like the presidency.
Monday the president mixed up the names of two secretaries in his cabinet. His cognitive stumble came shortly after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had touted his mental sharpness, the U.K. Daily Mail reported.
The president’s stumble happened during a meeting of a White House reproductive rights task force. Biden was attempting to acknowledge efforts of Jen Klein, described as his gender policy advisor.
“Where’s Jen sitting? There you are, Jen. Thank you,” Biden said to Klein. “And Secretary Becerra, sitting right next to her.”
Problem was, it was not Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra next to Klein, but Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Is Biden mentally competent enough to be president?
Becerra was scheduled for a zoom appearance at the meeting.
Conservative opinion channel The First posted Biden’s mumbling through the incident on X.
WATCH – Biden can’t recognize his own Cabinet Members, thinks Alejandro Mayorkas is Xavier Becerra (who wasn’t even in the room).
This happened minutes after Karine Jean-Pierre insisted there is nothing wrong with his mental health. pic.twitter.com/GDZbFHKplZ
— The First (@TheFirstonTV) January 23, 2024
Just a few minutes before, Fox News’ Peter Doocy had quizzed Jean-Pierre about why Americans believe Biden’s acuity is declining, the Daily Mail reported.
“I have to say that’s a little confusing for me,” Jean-Pierre responded.
“Because if you look at what this president has done in the last three years, historical pieces of legislation, right?” she said.
She contrasted Biden’s record with what she referred to Doocy as “your favorite president,” presumably a reference to Donald Trump.
For his part, Trump had his own cognitive glitch recently when he mixed up the names of presidential candidate Nikki Haley and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
But at a Monday night rally in New Hampshire, Trump launched a riff on his cognitive abilities and how the news media reported on them.
“A lot of times I’ll say ‘And President Obama is doing a lousy job,’ meaning that Obama’s running the show. They’ll say ‘Donald Trump doesn’t know who our president is.’
“No, no,” Trump continued. “Because cognitively — you know, I don’t know if you saw, but a few months ago I took a cognitive test my doctor gave me. I said ‘Give me a cognitive test’ just so we can, you know, because you know what the standards were.
“And I aced it. But I also took one when I was in the White House.
“I’ll let you know when I go bad,” Trump said. “I really think I’ll be able to tell ya because someday we go bad!”
“I feel my mind is stronger now than it was 25 years ago! Is that possible? I really do! Now, Biden can’t say that — look, you know he can’t say that. You know he can’t say that. You know there’s something going on.”
Trump spoke of individuals who made great accomplishments between the ages of 80 and 90 and indicated age is not always an accurate measure. “They always like to mention age. It’s not age — different people, different strokes.”
It’s obvious that while Trump and others have done well in old age, President Biden has not.
Many Americans agree, according to an ABC poll earlier this month which showed 47 percent of respondents believed Trump “has the mental sharpness it takes to serve effectively as president,” while only 28 percent said that of Biden.
Regarding Trump’s mixing the identities of Haley and Pelosi, Haley said: “I’m not saying anything derogatory, but when you’re dealing with the pressures of the presidency, we can’t have someone else that we question whether they’re mentally fit to do this. We can’t.”
Nevertheless, gaffes by Trump come nowhere near those by Biden, not to mention the poor conditions of Biden’s appearances compared to those of Trump.
The tragedy is that individuals like Jean-Pierre and others continually paint glowing pictures of Biden and his abilities when the eyes of most Americans see something different.
