Video of Biden ‘freezing’ bolsters those who say he’s too old for the job of president, even as others say the same about Trump
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The White House is accusing critics of editing videos and engaging in a misinformation campaign, after two clips of U.S. President Joe Biden seemingly being led by others went viral in recent days.
In one video, taken Saturday night at a fundraising gala that Biden was hosting in Los Angeles, the president stands still for several seconds on the stage while the audience applauds, before former president Barack Obama reaches for his arm and they walk off together, the former president’s hand on Biden’s back.
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The New York Post reported that Biden “appeared to freeze up” and “had to be led off stage” by Obama. Donald Trump, meanwhile, shared the clip on his Truth Social platform and asked: “Is this really who you want to be your President?”
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The Post also said the president had “started to wander off during a skydiving demonstration” in Italy on Thursday, with other G7 leaders including Italian Prime Minister Giogia Meloni “needing to pull him back to focus.”
Asked about the clips at Monday’s White House briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was curt. “It tells you everything that we need to know about how desperate Republicans are here,” she said, adding: “Let’s not forget, President Obama (and) President Biden have a relationship. They are friends. They’re like family to each other. And I think that’s what you saw.”
She told reporters that “these manipulated videos (are) done in bad faith.”
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Observers noted that Biden was merely pausing to take in the adulation of the crowd, who were applauding him before he left the stage.
In regard to the clip from the G7 meeting, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Telegraph that Biden was just “being very polite and went over to talk to all of (the parachute jumpers) individually,” before Meloni came to tell him they would all line up for handshakes.
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Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, have both had to push back against comments from critics suggesting they are too old and unfocused to take on the mantle of leadership for a second time.
In a recent gaffe by the former president, Trump told a crowd that Biden should take a cognitive test, adding: “I took a cognitive test, and I aced it. Doc Ronny — Doc Ronny Johnson, does everyone know Ronny Johnson, congressman from Texas, he was the White House doctor.”
He was, except his name is Jackson. Biden’s campaign wasted no time sharing that on social media.
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