Watan-In strange but not unprecedented behavior, US President Joe Biden appeared distracted as he wandered behind the podium, staring at the ground while King Abdullah II of Jordan spoke during their meeting yesterday at the White House, amidst discussions about the president’s mental health.
“Your Majesty, the floor is yours,” Biden, 81, said to the Jordanian king after welcoming him to the White House.
As King Abdullah prepared to deliver his speech, President Biden moved behind him and behind the podium, gazing at the ground as if searching for a spot to stand.
Biden hesitated between two different spots before settling on his original choice, beside King Abdullah to the left and in front of the Jordanian flag.
The president’s hesitations seemed to puzzle the king, who glanced once over his left shoulder expecting to see Biden but finding him absent, according to the American newspaper New York Post.
“I’ve changed my position,” Biden said before moving to the left side of the king, smiling.
During the meeting, King Abdullah II of Jordan called for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
And during the meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House, he warned that any Israeli ground attack on the densely populated city of Rafah in southern Gaza “would definitely result in a new humanitarian catastrophe.”
Biden, in turn, referred to a pending agreement to halt what he called “hostilities” for at least six weeks.
Biden’s slips raise serious questions about his health
After a busy week of slips, coupled with a report from the Department of Justice raising serious questions about his health, the medical department stepped in to analyze Biden’s physical and cognitive condition.
Doctors on Friday urged Biden, 81, to undergo cognitive tests to prove his fitness for office.
The Department of Justice report described Biden as an “elderly man with weak memory” and found that he does not remember the years he served as vice president and cannot recall “even within a few years” when his son “Beau” died.
يعيداً عن خرف #بايدن الذي وصف #السيسي بالرئيس المكسيكي ربما متأثراً بما يصفه المصريون فأنه يتحدث عن أنه من قام باقناع السيسي بفتح #معبر_رفح لدخول المساعدات.
لو اتيح للسيسي أن يتحدث على راحته لقال: أيوا أنا قفلت المعبر وساقفل واقفل. وأنا اللي دمرت اقتصاد #مصر وأنا الذي جعل مصر… pic.twitter.com/TLcbjWh66E
— Nezam Mahdawi نظام المهداوي (@NezamMahdawi) February 9, 2024
Doctors said forgetting major events such as a family member’s death was a hallmark of cognitive decline, a precursor to dementia, and called on the officeholder to undergo cognitive tests “to prove to the public” that he is mentally fit.
Biden made a stunning slip, suggesting that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is the president of Mexico.
Currently, 86% of Americans believe Biden is “too old” to be president, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll, while 62% said the same about former President Donald Trump, 77, who is seeking to face Biden again in the November election.