The very first moment that revealed Biden was never fit to be president

Alarming revelations about Joe Biden’s decline have raised questions about how long the president was harmed while leading the country and how long his staff, close advisers and family hid the truth.

Concerns about Biden’s age had already begun when he announced his 2020 campaign at the age of 77.

Democrats groaned as the former vice president struggled through the primaries, often stumbling over talking points as he jumbled his sentences.

At the time, the most favorable interpretation was that it was simply “Biden was Biden” – he was the affable, gaffe-ridden politician who struggled with a stutter from early childhood.

When the coronavirus pandemic occurred during the general election, Biden’s staffers almost breathed a sigh of relief when the president was no longer expected to campaign publicly, risking mistakes and errors.

Instead, he was quarantined in his family’s basement, where he could be relied on to deliver short scripted speeches and tightly controlled remote video interviews via Zoom.

Despite some concerns about his age, audiences saw Biden perform successfully during the 2020 presidential debates, when he twice rhetorically clashed with Donald Trump over the country’s future.

Biden won the presidency in 2020, but he was still sheltered in a closely watched cocoon of personnel as the pandemic raged and his public and media tools were limited and carefully scripted.

Perhaps the first time the public became alarmed was when President Biden demonstrated his dramatic physical limitations, repeatedly falling on the stairs as he boarded Air Force One for a trip to Atlanta, Georgia, on March 18, 2021.

White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted the president was “100 percent fine” and blamed the wind for his stumbles.

However, in August 2021, Biden began to show real problems communicating and responding to major public events.

During the failed exit from Afghanistan, President Biden kept his remarks scrupulously scripted for days, refusing to respond to shouted questions from reporters and sticking to the script on his talking points.

The country was unhappy with his answers, prompting staff to schedule an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos so the president could defend his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Biden made several mistakes and blunders during the interview that aired on August 19, 2021, and these had to be clarified and corrected by the White House.

The subsequent terrorist suicide bombing that killed 13 American war fighters and more than 170 Afghan civilians shocked Biden as he struggled to defend the country’s failed exit.

When he finally took questions from the press, Biden became frustrated and struggled to complete sentences and remember basic facts and talking points.

At one point, he ducked his head in frustration and anger and clutched his briefing book of talking points when Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked him a question.

Even many who voted for Biden doubted the president’s ability to handle the chaotic events and the decisions he made on how to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

Biden’s actions as a key world leader during Russia’s aggression in Ukraine also raised questions about his capabilities.

In January 2022, Biden held an extended press conference after a long drought of dealing with the White House press.

Even before it was over, staff had to clarify Biden’s comments that Russia would make a “small incursion” into Ukraine that might not provoke a response from the United States and NATO allies.

A National Security Council spokeswoman immediately said Biden was only talking about possible non-military, paramilitary or cyber attacks. The president hadn’t even finished speaking yet.

Following his press conference, White House press secretary Jen Psaki also issued a statement clarifying the president’s comments.

In March 2022, White House staff also tried to correct Biden after he gave a speech in Poland to confront Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

“For God’s sake, this man cannot stay in power,” Biden declared forcefully, suggesting he supported regime change in Russia.

The White House immediately said Biden’s comments were not about regime change and were not in his prepared remarks.

Biden continued his presidency with detailed notecards in hand from his staff reminding him where to go, what to say and who to speak to.

His coughing was no longer muffled by the occasional cough, his voice became thinner and weaker, and his gait stiffened, raising additional questions about his abilities.

In June 2022, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre hyperbolically defended Biden’s acumen.

“Oh my God, he’s the president of the United States, you know, he — I can’t even keep up with him,” she told CNN’s Don Lemon in an interview, urging skeptics to look at the job he was doing .

But in September 2022, Biden sparked more concern after he arrived at an event with members of Congress and shouted out Rep. Jackie Walorski, who had died in a car crash more than a month earlier.

‘Jackie are you here? Where’s Jackie?’ said Biden, who seemed unaware of her death.

The White House defended Biden’s question, saying only that the late congressman was “top of mind” during his remarks.

In June 2023, Biden tripped over a sandbag and fell prone on stage during the Air Force Academy commencement ceremony. White House aides responded that the president was “fine” after the undignified incident.

‘Calm down, nervous nellies,’ wrote Biden’s former chief of staff Ron Klain on social media blasts Democrats for questioning the president’s health.

In October 2023, Biden struggled with classified documents found in his possession during his interview with special counsel Robert Hur.

Hur’s report revealed his honest assessment that Biden was a “sympathetic, well-meaning older man with a poor memory.”

When the details emerged in early January, Biden was furious about the accusation.

He was running for re-election, already pushing back against suggestions that he was too old and senile to seek a second term.

Biden held a press conference defending his abilities, but after emphasizing that “my memory is fine,” he incorrectly referred to Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as “the president of Mexico” without correcting himself .

Throughout the period, Biden’s staff repeatedly defended the president’s mental and physical capabilities.

But behind the scenes, donors attending fundraising events were incredibly alarmed as he often trailed off during speeches and had difficulty remembering who he was speaking to.

At public events, Biden sometimes appeared lost on stage, looking for staff to point him in the right direction.

Biden’s public behavior was so bad in the summer of 2024 that donors openly questioned the president’s decision to run for re-election.

During the June 2024 presidential debate, Biden struggled to finish his sentences and muddled his prepared talking points as he tried to compete with Trump.

Biden’s brittle, gravelly and gravelly voice alarmed debate viewers when he claimed there were “a thousand trillionaires” in the United States who should pay more taxes.

Later in the debate, he declared that “we finally defeated Medicare” and struggled to carry out his prepared attacks on Trump.

“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either,” Trump joked.

The failed debate performance prompted a large number of Democrats to publicly call on Biden to leave the race.

But the White House continued to defend Biden’s capabilities

At a July 11 NATO summit, Biden introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” before correcting himself.

The president also referred to his vice president as “Trump” instead of Kamala Harris during a news conference at the summit.

“Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if I didn’t think she was qualified to be president,” he said.

Biden continued to insist he was “fine” and eligible for re-election.

“If I slow down, I can’t get the job done. That’s a sign I shouldn’t do it. But there is no evidence of that yet,” he said.

On July 21, Biden announced that he would suspend his presidential campaign.