{"id":27531,"date":"2025-05-15T23:21:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T23:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=27531"},"modified":"2025-05-15T23:21:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T23:21:41","slug":"joe-biden-redemption-tour-backfires-as-cognitive-doubts-resurface","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=27531","title":{"rendered":"Joe Biden \u2018redemption tour\u2019 backfires as cognitive doubts resurface"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Democratic operatives have urged Joe Biden to avoid public appearances as dramatic revelations about his cognitive state during the 2024 presidential race hit the party\u2019s efforts to oppose Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

The former US president has given his first interviews in recent days since leaving office \u2014 a bid to defend his legacy just as damning accounts reveal his mental decline in office and his inner-circle\u2019s efforts to conceal it.<\/p>\n

But strategists said Biden<\/a>\u2019s reappearance was causing more damage to a party that is struggling to recover from Kamala Harris\u2019s shattering defeat to Trump in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Biden family and certain Biden aides\u2019 attempt at this woefully premature, unasked for redemption tour\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009does not come across as goodwill redemption. It comes across as ripping a scab off that should not be ripped off,\u201d said Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist.<\/p>\n

A much anticipated book from journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, due out next week, includes fresh revelations about Biden\u2019s lapses, including a claim that he failed to recognise Hollywood actor and longtime friend George Clooney at an election fundraiser last June.<\/p>\n

Clooney later publicly called<\/a> for the president to drop out of the White House race. Biden did so in late July \u2014 but weeks too late to give Harris\u2019s run a chance, according to advisers quoted in the book. <\/p>\n

The 82-year-old former president claimed in a recent television interview that he could have won if he had remained in the race, despite the drop in his polling numbers after his disastrous June debate against Trump<\/a>. <\/p>\n

<\/picture>
Post-election books about Joe Biden reveal aides\u2019 concerns about the former president\u2019s mental acuity<\/span> <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis just isn\u2019t helping. Unfortunately the right thing to do is just to not add fuel to the fire\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009and just keep your head down,\u201d Reinish said. <\/p>\n

Almost a year since the debate deepened the electorate\u2019s concern over Biden\u2019s mental acuity, Democrats are now bracing for further damaging headlines just as they try to gear up for a 2026 midterm election fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Original Sin: President Biden\u2019s Decline, Its Cover-Up and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again<\/em>, by CNN host Tapper and Axios reporter Thompson, alleges that his team deliberately concealed the president\u2019s decline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two other post-election books published in recent months \u2014 Fight<\/em> and Revenge<\/em> \u2014 also revealed aides\u2019 concerns about Biden\u2019s mental acuity and his reluctance to drop out even as Trump opened up a polling lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s representatives did not respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ex-president\u2019s new media blitz comes after months of relative silence and appears designed to defend his time in office \u2014 but has only renewed the focus on his decline.<\/p>\n

The president struggled in an appearance on ABC\u2019s chat show The View<\/em> last week, when he said the claims of cognitive lapses were \u201cwrong\u201d before wandering off the topic. His wife Jill quickly intervened.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/picture>
Biden is helped up after falling during the graduation ceremony at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado in June 2023<\/span> \u00a9 Brendan Smilaowski\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Biden said in another recent interview, with the BBC, that he didn\u2019t \u201cthink it would have mattered\u201d if he had dropped out of the race earlier.<\/p>\n

Matt Bennett, co-founder of the centre-left Third Way think-tank, said Biden\u2019s appearances were \u201ca distraction from the story\u201d Democrats wanted to talk about.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not doing himself any favours,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cHe\u2019s not showing the world that it was all a lie. He\u2019s clearly having age-related problems when he goes on these shows. And so he can\u2019t really put the whole thing to bed by showing how sharp he is if he\u2019s not that sharp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some top Democratic politicians have also begun openly criticising the ex-president\u2019s decision to seek a second term \u2014 a possible signal that they see Biden\u2019s legacy as a threat to their own ambitions.<\/p>\n

\"Kamala<\/picture>
Kamala Harris waves at supporters as she walks on stage to give her concession speech at Howard University in Washington on November 6<\/span> \u00a9 Angela Weiss\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pete Buttigieg, Biden\u2019s transport secretary and a possible contender in the 2028 White House race, conceded this week that the ex-president\u2019s bid for a second term was \u201cmaybe\u201d a mistake.<\/p>\n

Illinois\u2019 Democratic governor JB Pritzker said the timing of Biden\u2019s withdrawal was a \u201cproblem\u201d. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said there was \u201cno doubt\u201d that Biden suffered cognitive decline in office.<\/p>\n

The reminders of Biden\u2019s frailty come as US TV screens relay images of Trump\u2019s high-energy tour of the Middle East, where he has struck deals and met world leaders, providing a sharp contrast with his predecessor. <\/p>\n

Trump has repeatedly pointed to the differences between him and Biden in recent days, pouncing on the perceived weakness of the former president in speeches in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump is always looking for a foil,\u201d said Anthony Coley, a Democratic strategist and former adviser to Biden\u2019s justice department.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd his political instincts are fine tuned enough to know that at this part of his presidency, the best foil for him to use is somebody who the American people routinely did not think was up for a second term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s director of communications said Biden\u2019s BBC interview showed he had \u201cclearly lost all mental faculties\u201d and accused his team of \u201cabuse\u201d for allowing him on air.<\/p>\n

As party infighting persists, Democrats are anxious to end the debate over Biden as they seek new leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for a fresh start,\u201d said Chuck Rocha, Democratic strategist and founder of Solidarity Strategies.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s hard to do that when we have to constantly be talking about [Biden\u2019s] appearances\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009when we should be talking about what the new vision is and who the new leaders of the party will be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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