While it’s been fascinating to watch the MSM’s convenient flip-flop in reporting on concerns over Joe Biden’s cognitive health after weeks of lecturing us on so-called “cheap fakes,” it’s also provided a timely reminder that Biden’s disastrous debate performance was not the first time he’s looked generally unwell in a public setting, nor will it be the last time.
Unlike many of the same outlets that have now seemingly had a wake-up call regarding the persistent questions surrounding Biden’s mental acuity, Biden’s conservative critics have been sounding the alarm bells since well before he was sworn into office as the video evidence, documented extensively by this site and others, has piled up.
In my view, what’s been especially relevant to note in the volumes of evidence is the level of involvement by Biden’s handlers who, a few months before the 2020 presidential election, were seen aggressively herding members of the press corps around like cattle, away from Biden and from any chance of asking a probing question of the man who would eventually become, on paper at least, the leader of the free world.
This was, I should note, during an event that reportedly lasted a whopping two minutes.
August 2020 Flashback: Reporters AGAIN Herded Away From Biden as Questions Are Asked, Even Kamala Appears Tense
It was, of course, a sign of things to come.
Here we are four years later, and the dam has finally broken in mainstream media circles concerning the level of control Biden’s handlers have exerted over him, particularly over the past year.
As the Wall Street Journal reported, their control has been close to absolute:
Senior White House advisers for more than a year have aggressively stage-managed President Biden’s schedule, movements and personal interactions, as they sought to minimize signs of how age has taken a toll on the oldest president in U.S. history.
The White House has limited Biden’s daily itinerary and shielded him from impromptu exchanges. Advisers have restricted news conferences and media appearances, twice declining Super Bowl halftime interviews—an easy way to reach millions of voters—and sought to make sure meetings with donors stuck to scripted pleasantries.
[…]
At a fundraiser in New York around the time of the United Nations General Assembly last fall, Biden seemed at a loss trying to answer questions about the Middle East from people in a photo line, according to a person there. An aide whispered in Biden’s ear, the person said, and the president then answered.
And that control, they also noted, was not just confined to White House staff. Things are tightly managed during campaign events as well:
At some fundraising events, the campaign allows few impromptu moments with the president, even with top donors. The campaign has long directed donors to submit their questions for the president in advance, including at an event this year in South Florida with only eight people attending, according to a donor. Biden spoke slowly and stumbled over some of his words, but he ultimately gave detailed responses, the donor said. The president seemed to have “lost a step,” the donor said, but he didn’t seem impaired.
Perhaps most alarmingly, the WSJ journal provided details on what German officials saw during a Biden visit in 2022:
German officials, aware of Biden’s fatigue at night, sought to accommodate the president by planning a June 2022 event with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the early evening.
The informal event, a soiree at the Alpine resort Schloss Elmau during the Group of Seven summit, was arranged as a confidential meeting on Ukraine in a relaxed setting. Biden didn’t show, surprising the chancellor and his aides, officials said. Instead, Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived and announced that Biden had to go to bed, according to two people who were there.
The informal event, a soiree at the Alpine resort Schloss Elmau during the Group of Seven summit, was arranged as a confidential meeting on Ukraine in a relaxed setting. Biden didn’t show, surprising the chancellor and his aides, officials said. Instead, Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived and announced that Biden had to go to bed, according to two people who were there.
That also dovetails with another story from the summer of 2023 on Biden blowing off an important NATO Summit dinner with world leaders in Lithuania, sending Blinken instead.
When asked why Biden didn’t attend the dinner, a “US official” told reporters that “the president has had four full days of official business and is preparing for a big speech tomorrow in addition to another day at the summit.”
Except Biden had not had a “four full days of official business.” As the Daily Mail pointed out at the time, that dinner was on a Tuesday night and Biden had arrived in Europe the Sunday night before — after a full day spent at Rehoboth Beach for a leisure trip.
Presumably, Biden scrolling around on his phone while laying out on the beach is considered “official business” by the White House.
Also, back in November 2022, Biden skipped out on a G20 “Leaders” event, and his handlers wouldn’t explain why the “last-minute change” was made.
To make a long story short, Biden’s handlers’ fingerprints are all over just about everything he says and does, right down to the freakin’ Easter Bunny corralling him away from random onlookers asking questions:
When even world leaders and the Easter Bunny are on to the smoke and mirrors routine – and become active participants in it, you know we’re in trouble. Deep trouble.
Related Reading: That ‘Joe Biden Scraps Press Conference’ Story Just Got a Whole Lot Worse
