Days before officially withdrawing from the 2024 race, President Biden claimed in media interviews that a doctor’s medical diagnosis may prompt him to reconsider running for a second term.
“If I had some health condition, if a doctor came to me and said, ‘You have this problem,'” Biden said in an interview with BET this month when asked if there was any reason for him to reconsider running in 2024. That question.
After weeks of steadfast announcements by Biden and his campaign that he would remain in the race, the president withdrew on Sunday afternoon and shortly after endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
“My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all of my energy on my duties as president for the remainder of my term,” Biden said in announcing his support for Harris on Sunday afternoon.
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President Biden salutes as he arrives at the White House for an event on November 27, 2023. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“As the 2020 party nominee, one of my first decisions was to choose Kamala Harris as my vice president. It was the best decision I have ever made. Today, I want to express my gratitude to Kamala for being our party’s nominee.” The nominees expressed their full support and recognition.
Biden’s health has been a concern for years among conservatives, including former White House physician Ronny Jackson, and concerns grew after Biden’s disastrous debate with former President Trump last month Keep getting worse. The debate performance — which included Biden stammering, speaking incoherently and answering questions in a more subdued manner than at previous public events — opened the door for traditional media and Democratic allies to call on Biden to withdraw over concerns about His mental health and age.
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Biden and the administration have pushed back, saying Biden is mentally healthy and does not suffer from dementia, Parkinson’s disease or other illnesses. However, Biden’s brother said after the announcement on Sunday that the president’s health “definitely” played a role in his decision not to seek re-election just weeks before the Democratic National Convention.
Frank Biden, brother of President Joe Biden, in 2011. (Joe Cavaretta/Sun-Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“I could not be more proud of my brother. Selfishly, I would have him come back and enjoy what we have left. He is a true hero. Country before self. As cliché as it sounds in our cynical political environment , but he and I are both cynical.
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When asked if his brother’s health was the reason for his withdrawal, he said: “In my humble opinion, absolutely.”
Following Frank Biden’s comments, a source close to the Biden family told CBS that the president’s brother was an alcoholic and that his claims were “completely untrue.”
Sources told the outlet, “Frank Biden suffers from a drinking problem and has not spoken to his brother the president in weeks. His suggestion that President Biden’s health was a factor in his decision is completely untrue.
Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates recently complained about reporters questioning Biden’s mental acuity after the Hull report noted the president’s “poor memory.” (Getty Images)
Asked about the president’s health, White House spokesman Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital that it had no impact on his decision to withdraw from the race.
“No. Health is not a factor,” Bates said Monday morning.
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Concerns surrounding Biden’s mental acuity date back to the 2020 election, when Ronny Jackson, a White House physician in both the Obama and Trump administrations, sounded the alarm, saying he believed Biden was mentally unfit to hold public office.
“As a citizen, not as a candidate running for Congress, but as a citizen of this country, I have watched Joe Biden’s campaign and I am concerned and convinced that he does not have the mental capacity, the cognitive capacity, to serve as our Commander in chief and head of state,” Jackson, now a Texas Republican congressman, said in 2020.
Maj. Gen. Ronny Jackson on Capitol Hill on April 24, 2018. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
The concerns have grown since then, especially in February when special counsel Robert Hur released a report investigating the president’s handling of classified documents after he stepped down as vice president in the Obama administration.
The report said that Hall would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified information after serving as vice president, and called Biden “a compassionate, well-intentioned old man with a poor memory.”
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His mental health came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year after The Wall Street Journal published an article based on interviews with dozens of lawmakers and administration officials that argued Biden had lost his mental edge and was losing his mind. His age was revealed during the meeting. The White House blasted the article as a partisan hit piece.
In addition to concerns about Biden’s mental acuity, he previously suffered two brain aneurysms in 1988 that nearly claimed his life.
Senator Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, are surrounded by supporters and news media during a rally in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1988. (PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
“If he did survive, the part of his brain that controls speech may have been damaged,” says the New York Times’ new book “American Women.” white house correspondent Katie Rogers reports on the 1988 health scare.
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Biden has been ridiculed and criticized on social media for a number of gaffes and missteps at public events in recent months amid growing concerns about his mental health. They include: Former President Obama grabbing Biden by the wrist and appearing to lead him off the stage at a fundraiser in Los Angeles in June; this summer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Biden was directed to return to Italy for a meeting with a group of world leaders when he took a few steps away from the crowd to give a thumbs-up to a skydiver; Viral video shows the president relatively motionless at a Juneteenth concert event at the White House Standing on the ground.
President Obama holds President Biden’s wrist at a fundraiser. (Christopher Gardner via Storyful)
The floodgates for criticism of the president’s age and mental acuity opened on June 27, when he delivered a poor debate performance and Democratic elected officials and traditional allies in political and media circles called on Biden to drop out of the race over concerns he would be unable to compete. Trump.
However, Biden and his campaign have repeatedly denied that he is withdrawing from the race and dismissed claims that his mental health is declining.
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“Joe Biden has made it clear: He is in this race, and he is in it to win. Furthermore, he is the presumptive nominee and has no plans to replace the nominee,” a statement released two days before Biden withdrew. campaign memo reads.
President Biden stands on the podium during a debate with former President Trump at CNN studios in Atlanta on June 27, 2024. (Kevin D. Liles writes for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Harris appears to be a possible replacement for Biden as she has garnered increased support from heavyweight Democrats such as former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.
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Trump responded to news of Biden’s withdrawal, lambasting him as the “worst president” and saying Harris would be the easier Democratic nominee to beat.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on July 14, 2023 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“He’s the worst president in the history of our country,” Trump told Fox News Digital in a phone interview Sunday afternoon. “No president has ever been so bad.”
“He is unfit to serve,” Trump continued. “I ask: Who is going to run this country for the next five months?”
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