When President Biden met with congressional leaders in the West Wing in January to negotiate a Ukraine funding deal, he spoke so softly at times that some participants struggled to hear him, according to five people familiar with the meeting. He read from notes to make obvious points, paused for extended periods and sometimes closed his eyes for so long that some in the room wondered whether he had tuned out.
In a February one-on-one chat in the Oval Office 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 told at the time about what Johnson said had happened. Johnson worried the president's memory had slipped 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 seemed to shift from one day to the next, according to then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and two others familiar with the talks. On some days, he had loose and spontaneous exchanges with Republicans, and on others he mumbled and appeared to rely on notes.
"I used to meet with him when he was vice president. I'd go to his house," McCarthy said in an interview. "He's not the same person."
The 81-year-old Biden is the oldest person to hold the presidency. His age and cognitive fitness have become major issues in his campaign for a second term, both in the minds of voters and in attacks on him by Republicans. The White House and top aides said he remains a sharp and vigorous leader.
Some who have worked with him, however, including Democrats and some who have known him back to his time as vice president, described a president who appears slower now, someone who has both good moments and bad ones.
For much of his career, Biden enjoyed a reputation on Capitol Hill for being a master negotiator of legislative deals, known for his detailed knowledge of issues and insights into the other side's motivations and needs--and for hitting his stride when the pressure was on.
LOL. As John Sexton remarked, the White House is claiming this whole story is a "partisan trick," but the article is actually filled brim to bottom with defensive claims about what an effective and forceful "president" Biden is.
I'm not going to quote much of that. But Sexton is right, for every bit of actual news they break about Democrats noting that Biden is frail and mentally impaired, they'll add a paragraph talking about how "forceful" Biden was in his (pre-written, rehearsed) public statement about Ukraine funding.
They also keep on questioning Trump's mental acuity, and push a "both sides" narrative on cognitive decline.
So they're attempting to spin for Biden.
But some truth slips through between the propaganda talking points.
Over the past year, though, with Republicans in control of the House, that reputation has diminished.
White House officials dismissed many of the accounts from those who have met with the president or been briefed on those meetings as motivated by partisan politics....
This article is based on interviews with more than 45 people over several months. The interviews were with Republicans and Democrats who either participated in meetings with Biden or were briefed on them contemporaneously, including administration officials and other Democrats who found no fault in the president's handling of the meetings. Most of those who said Biden performed poorly were Republicans, but some Democrats said that he showed his age in several of the exchanges.
The article points out that the White House knew Democrats were being interviewed for this story -- and told them to tell the WSJ that Biden was better than ever (just like his economy).
The White House kept close tabs on some of The Wall Street Journal's interviews with Democratic lawmakers. After the offices of several Democrats shared with the White House either a recording of an interview or details about what was asked, some of those lawmakers spoke to the Journal a second time and once again emphasized Biden's strengths.
"They just, you know, said that I should give you a call back," said Rep. Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat, referring to the White House.
That shows real confidence on the White House's part about what Democrats are saying about Biden's dementia, eh?
Later in the article, they report:
Meeks, the New York Democrat, said he didn't come away from the meeting worried about Biden's acuity. "I found him to be the same Joe Biden that I've known since I came to Congress," said Meeks, who was elected in 1998.
They don't say that he said that after the White House called him to tell him to call back the WSJ and emphasize how totally not senile Biden is -- but I think we know for certain that this was the call-back statement.
This is good:
With Ukraine running out of munitions, the White House called together top lawmakers to discuss what it would take to get congressional funding, along with the scope of border-security changes demanded by Republicans. The president moved so slowly around the Cabinet Room to greet the nearly two dozen congressional leaders that it took about 10 minutes for the meeting to begin, some people who attended recalled.
Biden started the meeting reading from notes to make broad points about the need to give money to Ukraine, which struck several participants as odd given that the lawmakers present already generally agreed that more funds were needed. Some attendees had trouble hearing him.
Biden deferred so frequently to other lawmakers that much of the conversation didn't include him, some people who attended the meeting recalled. When questions came directly to him, he would turn to staffers, they said.
"You couldn't be there and not feel uncomfortable," said one person who attended. "I'll just say that."
Senator Risch took on the claims that when no one can see him, Biden is actually a "dynamo" of energy and force of personality:
"What you see on TV is what you get," said Sen. James E. Risch, an Idaho Republican, who attended the meeting but shared only his general impression of meetings with Biden. "These people who keep talking about what a dynamo he is behind closed doors--they need to get him out from behind closed doors, because I didn't see it."
In closely related news, 22-year-old trainers can't keep up with the Human Cyclone named Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
John Sexton has more quotes and more context about Biden's decline, including his dubious achievement of being the president who answers the fewest questions from the press.
One bonus: As you know, Merrick Garland won't turn over the audiotapes of this senile rapist because of the Dire Threat that someone will use the tapes to make a deep fake of Biden.
Of course, people are already making deep fakes.
Here's another one. CONTENT WARNING for the n-bomb and lots and lots of talk about illegal drugs. Don't watch at work!