Leaked Document Showing How Biden's Team Prepares Him for Events Sparks Controversy
Scrutiny of President Joe Biden’s ability to serve a second term should he be victorious in November — or even secure the Democratic Party’s nomination — has increased tenfold after his presidential debate performance on June 27 opposite the presumptive GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump.
To conservative audiences, the 81-year-old president seemed his normal senile self, but left-wing media pundits and Democrats looked on in apparent shock at his inability to form a coherent sentence.
Since then, evidence of what the Biden administration does to keep him afloat has emerged from the fringes, now becoming mainstream.
On Sunday, Axios reported it had obtained a copy of a template used by White House event staff to guide Biden to a podium when speaking at events.
“In the five-page document, two pages are separate pictures of, ‘Walk to podium,'” the outlet reported.
SCOOP: For his events, President Biden’s staffers prepare a short document with large print and photos that include his precise path to a podium, according to an event template the White House sends to staffers. https://t.co/Zw5252NmHH
— Axios (@axios) July 7, 2024
“It surprised me that a seasoned political pro like the president would need detailed verbal and visual instructions on how to enter and exit a room,” a person who staffed a Biden event told Axios.
But the president’s team suggested this isn’t abnormal.
“If individuals are not accustomed to seeing advance teams work, that would be a common reaction, whoever the principal is,” Axios quoted an unidentified White House official as saying.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates told the outlet that “high levels of detail and precision are critical to presidential advance work — regardless of who is president — and these are basic approaches that are used by any modern advance team, including the vice president’s office and agencies.”
So what is the story here?
Are procedures for Biden the same as for other executives?
That might be your conclusion if you chose to look at this report in a vacuum, but more discerning audiences will consider all the evidence used to build the case against him.
Recall when footage captured Biden’s instructions during a White House event from 2022 in which he had to be told to enter the room, say hello to the audience, and take his seat.
More recently, we can look to video evidence lampooned as “cheap fakes” as he appeared lost and wandering during public appearances.
The template posted by Axios does seem par for the course as the president should have events carefully planned from start to finish, but it looks very bad for Biden given the circumstances.
While other presidents have had events planned meticulously, would anyone in their day truly expect towering intellects such as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt to need instruction on basic behaviors?
For Biden, this document exists because he couldn’t function without it.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Conversation
Source link