Instead of criticizing Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials and that his wrongdoing presented “serious risks to national security,” Democrats should be thanking him. Why? Because the report verbalized the concerns that a super majority of Americans have about President Biden’s cognitive abilities. People are worried that this man isn’t up to handling the serious domestic and international problems our country faces. A new ABC poll shows that 86 percent of Americans think Biden is too old to serve another term as president. Ninety-one percent of independents think Biden is too old. To be sure, 71 percent think Trump is too old, too, but half of those with concerns about Biden's mental status have the same concern about Trump.
The report says that besides being guilty of breaking an important federal law on the nation’s security, “We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself as a sympathetic, well meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” After the president’s press conference he seems more like an angry old man with a poor memory.
The report documented that “Biden’s memory was significantly limited” during his interviews and that this limitation is getting worse. This is something many of us see in real time. He didn’t remember when he was vice president or when his term ended, “in 2009, am I still Vice-President?” He couldn’t even remember within several years of when his son Beau died.
Every day we see more evidence of Biden's confusion. After introducing King Abdullah at a press conference, a confused-looking Biden paced back forth behind the King of Jordan not knowing where to stand, looking at the floor trying to figure out his assigned spot. First, he went left, then right, then left of the king. His indecision was painful to watch. This elderly man with a poor memory sheepishly told the king, "I switched sides on you." Biden's aides must have been panicking. Every public appearance for Biden has become a high wire act. Think of the leaders of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran watching this press conference.
As a Republican, if I were only thinking as a partisan, it is better for Biden to be the Democrat nominee for president this November. Former President Trump has the best chance of winning by running against Biden. That, of course, is not guaranteed because as weak as President Biden is, he still might beat a possibly “convicted felon” Trump.
However, I am more concerned about the consequences of electing a physically and mentally weak person to occupy the most powerful position in the world. This is the man who has the nuclear football following him around. And Kamala Harris would be no better should she replace him, as her approval rating is even lower than his.
It gives me no pleasure to say that we are all seeing an accelerated physical and mental decline in President Biden. The recently released special counsel report underscores that obvious reality. I am not alone in this opinion. Former Obama advisor and CNN senior political analyst David Axelrod recently claimed that President Biden’s “angry” press conference about the report in which he confused the president of Egypt with the president of Mexico (one of many, many gaffes) only “reinforces the meme” that President Biden is too old.
I scratch my head when Democrats who hate the idea of a second Trump presidential term continue to support such a weak candidate in obvious decline. Democrat friends, you've been warned.
Greg Ganske, MD, is a retired plastic surgeon who cared for women with breast cancer, children with birth defects like cleft lip, farmers with hand trauma and burn patients. He served Iowa in the U.S. Congress from 1995-2003.
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