Evidence continues to mount that Joe Biden might be suffering from at least some form of a cognitive decline.
The 77-year-old former vice president and lawmaker has made a career out of putting his foot in his mouth.
Biden’s penchant for gaffes previously endeared him to portions of the electorate and members of the establishment media, who saw in Biden a man who was not only human, but also relatable.
Biden has also earned a number of monikers throughout his life and career. “Crazy Joe,” “Uncle Joe” and even “Sleepy Joe” come to mind as of late.
But in March 2010, Rupert Cornwell, a reporter for The Independent, referred to Biden as “the likable Joe.”
“The man is so hard to dislike. Yes, he puts his foot in it on occasion, but in a buttoned-up city that can be refreshing. For years, Biden was living proof of the old adage that in Washington, a gaffe is when a politician by accident blurts out the truth,” Cornwell wrote a decade ago this week.
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But ten years is a long time. In the span of the last decade, Biden’s gaffes have grown into something seemingly more serious. His constant missteps appear to be lapses in judgment and memory — not just gaffes — as the candidate bumbles through a rigorous primary.
On Tuesday, Biden was not only forgetful, but downright agitated and confrontational during a verbal melee with an autoworker in Michigan. The former VP even appeared to threaten the worker by asking him if he wanted to “go outside with me.”
There was not a likable aspect to the moment, which was a new low relative to Biden’s recent behavior. Even worse, Biden was not simply tripping over his tongue, either. He mixed up his positions on gun control and even forgot the name of the left’s oft-vilified AR-15 — instead referring to it as an “AR-14.”
The eye level view of Joe Biden telling a Michigan auto worker "You're full of shit" and then shhhing a female staffer is a must watch.pic.twitter.com/gJ0BsP19UE
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) March 10, 2020
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In evaluating this and a number of recent incidents in which Biden has appeared bewildered, confused or momentarily lost, his interaction last week with an American military veteran particularly stands out, and adds more evidence to the argument that something isn’t right with the candidate’s mental state.
In a moment on March 3 that was largely overlooked by the establishment media, two American war veterans confronted Biden about his voting record on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars at a California diner.
“You enabled that war,” said Air Force veteran Michael Thurman, who was accompanied at the diner by an Army veteran of the Iraq War, the Washington Examiner reported.
“My friends are dead because of your policies,” the veteran said.
Biden responded by invoking the memory of his late son, Beau Biden, who died in 2015 after a battle with brain cancer.
“So is my son, so is my son, who was in Iraq, OK, for a year,” Biden said of his late son.
It appeared as though Biden might have momentarily believed that his son, who died in a Maryland hospital far from the battlefields of Iraq, had died in the conflict as well.
But Biden, who quickly shifted his tone, wasn’t finished. He turned the tense moment around on Thurman, telling him in a threatening manner, “You better not [go after my son].”
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Agitated, Biden then turned and walked way from the two veterans.
Two veterans confronted @JoeBiden about his record of supporting war during his campaign stopover in Oakland on Super Tuesday. Read more here- https://t.co/ushpLvVXK5 #DroptheMIC #NoMoreWar #VetsAgainstWar pic.twitter.com/M7iGZa7DOs
— About Face: Veterans Against the War (@VetsAboutFace) March 4, 2020
What happened? In a span of a few moments, Biden was approached by individuals with valid concerns. And in that short period of time, the former VP turned a conversation about his voting record into one about defending his son from a blitz of criticism that was never coming.
At the very least, it was a shameless deflection. Why would he invoke the memory of his son who died from cancer during a discussion about fallen American soldiers?
Prayers for Biden, either way. No parent should ever suffer though outliving one of their children. But that doesn’t excuse Biden’s temperament and it certainly does little to dispel the notion that his cognitive health is deteriorating.
At best, Biden’s response to Thurman was a cold, calculated move to use his son’s death to deflect questions about his record while in the Senate, and to escape an uncomfortable moment.
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Worst case scenario: Biden has forgotten the fundamentals of his son’s memory, including not only how he lived, but also how he died.
Being that I am not a neurologist or geriatrician, and have no medical training whatsoever, I attempt to avoid speculating, as others have, as to what might be ailing the former vice president.
But as a concerned voter, I tend to agree with former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson, who tweeted last month that Biden is in need of cognitive testing.
Remember the cognitive test I gave @realDonaldTrump? The one he aced! Sounds like somebody else might need some testing done!! Scary!! https://t.co/MhantZoHIy
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJackson4TX) February 25, 2020
The Hill reported in August that Biden’s campaign has attempted to shield him from media exposure as much as possible — especially “late in the day.”
After speaking with Biden allies during her reporting, Amie Parnes of The Hill wrote, “Biden has a tendency to make the blunders late in the day, his allies say, particularly after a long swing on the road, like he had last week in Iowa. They say something needs to be done to give the candidate more down time as the campaign intensifies in the fall.”
“Late-day confusion” is often associated with sundowning.
According to the Mayo Clinic, sundowning is a “group of symptoms that occur at a specific time of the day that may affect people with dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease.”
Story cited here.
