The prime minister said that his "own personal view", having spent almost an hour in private talks with Biden, as well as attending a dinner for Nato leaders at the White House, was that he was mentally agile.
Asked in a round of broadcast interviews whether the criticism of Biden was misguided, the prime minister said "yes". He added: "My own personal view is he was on good form.
I was very keen obviously to discuss Ukraine, but there were many other issues that we got through." Downing Street said the prime minister did not raise Biden's health, or his future plans, in the meeting.
However, Starmer was asked by reporters about speculation in the US media that he could be suffering from the early symptoms of dementia.
"No, we had a really good bilateral yesterday, we were billed for 45 minutes, we went on for the best part of an hour," he said.
This story is from the July 12, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the July 12, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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