Italy’s largest paper, Corriere Della Sera, has reported on a curious incident involving President Joe Biden during the G7 Summit with world leaders in Italy on Thursday. The paper, based in Melon and in circulation since the 1880s, reported an episode that appeared to show Biden wandering off into the distance before Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni turned him back to the group of world leaders watching a skydiving show. The video has gone viral on social media platforms, drawing attention from foreign press outlets.
Corriere Della Sera’s Viviana Mazza described the scene in an article titled “Biden and the videos of his rigid movements. How is the president?”: In the footage, G7 leaders observe the paratroopers’ performance of the Folgore Brigade. Biden steps away for a moment before being recalled by Meloni, who touches his arm. Critics have described this as a moment in which he “gets distracted” and “wanders;” supporters argue that he only turned around for a moment to compliment one of the paratroopers.
Doubts about President Biden’s age, an 81-year-old man subjected to exhausting rhythms between international commitments and election campaigning, are not new to Americans. In a rare interview with Time magazine last month, the author noted that “his stiff gait, muffled voice, erratic syntax clashes with the intense, talkative appearance from when he was a senator or vice president.” The Trump campaign focused on this issue, releasing a video of President Biden seemingly trying to sit on a chair that wasn’t there during the anniversary of the Normandy landings. However, it should be noted that the complete footage shows President Biden looking back, spotting the chair, and sitting down slowly after a pause.
During the Juneteenth ceremony at the White House, Biden smiles but is immobile and slightly out of place while everyone around him dances. Republican lawmakers have shared anecdotes about the “slowness” and “yielding” of the 81-year-old American president in closed-door meetings where they discussed issues such as funds for Ukraine and the debt ceiling. In one of these meetings in January, the authors noted that President Biden had a voice so faint that some people had difficulty hearing him; he paused for a long time and closed his eyes for so long that attendees wondered if he was still tuned in. A spokesman for Biden, Andrew Bates, dismissed the Republicans’ comments as “politically motivated” and emphasized that foreign leaders, experts, and even the same Republicans in Congress recognize that President Biden is “an expert leader,” with the only difference being his occasional repetition of stories, a habit he has always had, regardless of his age.
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The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, has also reported on the event. According to diplomatic sources cited by The Sun, President Biden has been “losing focus” during the summit: One told The Sun that it is “the worst he has ever been.” Another insider added that while the president had shown moments of sharpness and clarity during meetings, at other times he appeared to be “losing focus” and concentration. Other attendees from multiple delegations have described Mr. Biden’s performance as “embarrassing.
About one-third of Democrats doubt President Biden’s mental fitness, according to a December Harvard/Harris survey. Another poll revealed that 82% of Americans harbor concerns about his physical and mental health. Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.