President Biden Shows Signs Of Mental Decline In Private Meetings - 'He's Not The Same Person'

President Joe Biden's age has been a major issue on the campaign trail as the oldest president in American history runs for another four years in the White House. The 81-year-old Biden has struggled to hide his cognitive failures and mental lapses from the public, and a new report from The Wall Street Journal shows that the president is showing signs of decline in private meetings with lawmakers.

According to multiple sources familiar with various private meetings, Biden's mental decline is becoming more apparent by the day. During a January meeting with lawmakers to discuss Ukraine funding, the president allegedly spoke so softly that those in attendance struggled to hear him. The elderly president also read obvious points from note cards and was seen closing his eyes for extended periods of time.

Another meeting in February with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) saw President Biden say that a recent policy change related to major energy projects was just a study. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has also criticized the president for the stark difference in his mental capacity from his time as vice president. "I used to meet with him when he was vice president. I'd go to his house," McCarthy said in an interview with The Journal. "He's not the same person."

While most of those interviewed by the Journal were Republicans, some Democrats also criticized the president's slowing mental faculties. That, however, didn't stop the White House from arguing that claims of Biden's cognitive decline were just partisan attacks rather than actual criticism.

"Congressional Republicans, foreign leaders, and nonpartisan national-security experts have made clear in their own words that President Biden is a savvy and effective leader who has a deep record of legislative accomplishment," said White House spokesman Andrew Bates. "Now, in 2024, House Republicans are making false claims as a political tactic that flatly contradict previous statements made by themselves and their colleagues." 

While the Biden White House continues to do damage control, the repeated public lapses and private reports of his cognitive decline are having an impact on the electorate. An ABC News/Ipsos survey taken earlier this year shows that 86 percent of Americans believe Biden is too old to serve another term in the White House. When broken down by party, 73 percent of Democrats and 91 percent of independents said Biden was too old to serve. 

Read The Wall Street Journal's full report here.

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