The June presidential debate between President Biden and then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump may have been the first time that some voters noticed just how diminished Mr. Biden’s capabilities were, but the problems were present more than four years earlier, according to a report.
The Wall Street Journal’s report on Thursday revealed the lengths that Mr. Biden’s staff went to seclude him, so as to not highlight his declining mental acuity, starting even before he took office.
The Biden campaign team worried back in 2020 that first lady Jill Biden’s frequent campaign events would make Mr. Biden look bad.
The report detailed that the White House had to “adapt … around the needs of a diminished leader.” Meetings, even with some Cabinet secretaries, were happening less frequently than normal. Senior advisers were told to step up and take on roles that should’ve been held by the president, the outlet said.
When compiling media clips for his presidential run, aides were told to leave out the negative stories of Mr. Biden.
One person familiar with the circumstances told the Journal that aides “body him to such a high degree” and the “hand holding” was unlike anything any other president had.
In just the first few months of his White House stint in 2021, officials took note that Mr. Biden couldn’t handle long meetings, and would get tired and make mistakes if they went on too long. Meetings started being catered around when the president was more aware, so they would start later in the day.
If the president was having a bad day, meetings would be canceled altogether.
An aide recalled an official explaining why a meeting was postponed: “He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow.”
Mr. Biden, 82, will be the oldest president at the end of his term, and he was already the oldest person to be inaugurated president four years ago, when he was 78.
There are mistakes that will define the administration, such as the heavily criticized Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021. Rep. Adam Smith, Washington Democrat, revealed that he tried to warn Mr. Biden “to set expectations low,” but could never seem to reach the president.
Mr. Biden later called to apologize to Mr. Smith, who called the White House under Mr. Biden “more insulated than most.”
Staffers took steps to make Mr. Biden look more capable than he was. A vocal coach was hired to help make him sound less frail, and his staff was often the ones pushing his agenda.
However, there was only so much that could be done. The report noted that over his four-year term, Mr. Biden only held nine full Cabinet meetings, while former President Barack Obama held 19 and Mr. Trump held 25.
The February report by special counsel Robert Hur also didn’t help appearances. The three-hour long prep sessions held the week leading up to the interview didn’t do much, and Mr. Biden still failed to remember rehearsed lines.
The interview went poorly, and Mr. Hur said Mr. Biden should not be prosecuted for keeping classified documents in his house because he was a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”
Mr. Biden on the campaign trail didn’t go well, either — the president made a lot of flubs, and aides were seen stepping in to attempt to mask them. He didn’t talk to his pollsters, which was something he did when he ran in 2020.
The president didn’t handle being questioned about his polling numbers well, and would become angry.
All of this led up to him dropping out last July, and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, who ultimately lost to Mr. Trump.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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