United States President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal today. Immediately, the Western media exposed his true health condition and how the White House has used various methods to conceal the 81-year-old man's illness in the three and a half years since he took office.
These include choosing a place to walk carefully, choosing shoes that are not likely to fall, having staff surround him, shortening his schedule so he has more time to sleep, and so on.
Even so, Biden stumbles, slurred speech, disorganized thinking, and falls frequently.
In March 2021, just two months after taking office, he spooked the world by falling on the stairs of the presidential plane.
In February 2023, he fell again while leaving Warsaw after a secret visit to Ukraine. In March 2023, he fell again while traveling to Alabama.
After falling down many times, since last summer, Biden has almost only taken the small staircase to get to Air Force One, because the number of steps on the small staircase is only 14, which is much less than the 26 steps of the grand staircase.
In the face of Biden's various emergencies, the White House press office will come up with various excuses afterwards to explain Biden's bizarre behavior.
For example, in June, when the video showed Biden "frozen" for more than 30 seconds, White House spokesman Jean-Pierre lied that the videos were "cheap fakes" and emphasized that they had been maliciously edited.
In September 2022, Biden suddenly asked at an event "Where's Jackie?" and looked around for Rep. Jackie · Volosky. But Jackie was actually killed in a car accident last month.
Jean-Pierre did not say whether this was due to a malfunctioning teleprompter or if the president had forgotten that the congresswoman had died, only insisting that Jackie was Biden's "top concern."
Jean-Pierre has not been able to clearly explain why Parkinson's disease experts have visited the White House eight times, but denies that Biden has Parkinson's.
When Biden made a gaffe, calling his ally Japan "xenophobic," Jean-Pierre refused to answer directly.
Jean-Pierre, known for not answering questions and relying on memos, has made many excuses for Biden's various "dementia" behaviors.
This government is therefore considered "the most scripted government in history".
Biden only "stayed awake" by 8 p.m.
Details of how the White House has organized his schedule have been leaked since Biden behaved badly in his debate with Trump last month.
Most of Biden's events are scheduled between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., as that's when Biden is "most reliable."
According to the New York Times, Biden confirmed his schedule restrictions to Democratic governors last week, saying he needed more sleep and asked not to hold events after 8 p.m.
World leaders have had to adjust to his schedule, but no-shows are still a regular occurrence.
According to the Wall Street Journal, at the G7 summit in Switzerland in June 2022, Biden was scheduled to meet with Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the evening, but was absent and sent Secretary of State Blinken.
Upon arrival, Blinken announced to attendees that Biden had gone to bed (a claim denied by the United States State Department).
During Biden's foreign trip, he was also absent from official dinners with world leaders many times.
Last July, he did not attend a dinner at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
In June, he also left the G7 summit dinner in Italy ahead of schedule.
At the G20 summit in Bali in 2022, Biden also did not attend the leaders' dinner.
Biden relies on cheat cards to answer questions
For years, Biden has carried a cheat card with him to various events, but in recent months, he has become increasingly reliant on the card, which has caused a little panic among Democratic funders.
The card reminds Biden what he should do, including a simple reminder like "sit in your seat."
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Biden campaign has long asked donors to submit questions in advance. And Biden answers pre-screened questions according to the cards.
All the Q&A sessions were pre-scheduled, as Biden was no longer able to answer questions on the fly.
The Wall Street Journal said that at a fundraiser last September, Biden looked overwhelmed when asked about the Middle East, and his aides then whispered in his ear.
Trump, who once mocked Biden's use of cheat cards, said at a campaign event in Arizona in June: "He (Biden) had a press conference that lasted about two minutes, and he said this, he read a card, 'Well, NBC Jim,' and then they asked him a question, and then he picked up the same piece of paper and read the answer." ”
Assistant around & anti-fall shoes
For more than three years, aides have accompanied Biden across the South Lawn and to the helicopter unless he is with the first lady, according to the Daily Mail. Because when a crowd of people surrounds him, Biden's stiff gait is less noticeable.
At the same time, in order to prevent falls, Biden's shoes have been changed and several different shoes have been tried.
Since last summer, Biden has started wearing sneakers most of the time, including Skechers. This spring, Biden began wearing wide-soled sneakers from another sports brand, Hoka. Recently he wore a type of oxford shoe. The shoe is said to be "comfortable to bounce on" and has "all-day responsive cushioning".
The Daily Mail says Biden suffers from sensory peripheral neuropathy, which causes numbness in his feet and falls.
Use a CPAP machine
In June 2023, sharp-eyed journalists noticed marks on Biden's face. The White House later confirmed that Biden began using a CPAP machine used to treat sleep apnea.
Biden's sleep apnea has been part of his public medical record since 2008. At the time, doctors thought Biden's irregular heart rhythm (atrial fibrillation) could be related to his sleep apnea.
But the 2019 Biden campaign said that Biden had improved sleep apnea after undergoing sinus and nasal surgery.
It's unclear why Biden started using CPAP machines four years later. The New York Post asked Biden in April, "What time do you wake up?" Because it was already noon, the mask marks on Biden's face were still clearly visible.
The Democrats and the media turned
Biden has hosted a record number of press conferences and given few interviews. He relied heavily on a teleprompter when speaking and rarely answered questions. This is one of the reasons why the outside world has been questioning Biden's cognitive ability.
But the Democrats have consistently dismissed rumors of dementia or any other disease as Republican rumors. It wasn't until after last month's debate that the Democrats seemed to suddenly realize that he was old and called for him to withdraw from the race. At the same time, the leftist media acted in unison, began a public opinion offensive, exposed all kinds of insider information, and even broke the news that Obama had privately said "don't underestimate Biden's ability to mess things up."
Don't underestimate the power of the media. When you are needed, the media can do everything they can to hide your illness for you, and when you are disliked by the financiers, it is "in the best interests of the Democratic Party and the Party" to withdraw from the election.
But if Biden changes to Harris, won't the financiers leave?
No sitting president in United States history has dropped out of election so close to election date. From Trump's assassination to Biden's withdrawal from the election, it seems that all of them show the chaos and bloodiness of this election.
Wonderfully, Biden probably wouldn't have won the presidency if it weren't for Covid (when he spent most of his time running at home via Zoom). Now, contracting the new crown virus has forced him to end his presidency.
But Trump has denied that Biden has contracted the coronavirus.
After Biden withdrew from the election, Trump took the opportunity to criticize Biden, saying that he was not fit to be president in the first place, and called Biden "the worst president in the history of United States."
Judging by Biden's performance in three-and-a-half-year terms — whether from the Afghanistan's awkward withdrawal, his inability to deal with even one war, let alone the simultaneous outbreak of war and the war in Gaza Ukraine, high inflation due to massive government spending, a migration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, and numerous falls or freezes — to many United States, Mr. Trump seems right.
Look at the journalists: Hepburn won't do it
Editor: Li Yu
Editor-in-charge: Wang Yong