The age question has lurked in the background ever since Biden – who, a fortnight after the 5 November poll, will turn 82 – said he would seek re-election. But it has suddenly leapt into the foreground thanks to video clips showing him apparently frozen, behaving strangely, or “out of it” at a number of public events. An angry White House has since accused Biden’s “right-wing critics” of producing “cheap fakes” with selective editing.
One clip, from the G7 in Italy last week – which appeared at first glance to show Biden wandering off – was said to have been edited so as not to show that the US president was actually joining another group. A clip from a White House Juneteenth holiday that showed Biden staring blankly while everyone else danced was explained by the observation that some people just don’t like to dance.
Certainly, Donald Trump has noticed, and he is busy making political capital out of his White House rival’s travails. Last weekend, at a rally in Detroit, he questioned the president’s mental acuity and challenged him to take the same cognitive test Trump said he “aced”.
My own impressions are conflicting. On the one hand, some of the pictures are authentic and certainly give the impression of an elderly man not fully up to speed with what is going on around him. But is there a sense in which Biden was ever thus? I recall his summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Geneva in the first months of his presidency. There was no joint press conference. Putin gave a fluent performance when he addressed the media, while Biden’s account, given separately, was stuttering, scripted, and almost incoherent.
On the other hand, there are times when Biden seems absolutely aware, cheerfully socialising and producing quick and pertinent repartee. His most recent State of the Union address, in March, was a veritable tour de force, delivered with clarity and verve.
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