Foreign media say 'distracted' Biden is getting worse ahead of 2024 election

Several foreign media outlets have published stories in recent months raising concerns about President Joe Biden's health ahead of the 2024 US presidential election.

Biden and his administration maintain that his health is in stable condition and that he is capable of defeating former President Donald Trump in November. But Biden's recent performance, comments during press conferences and on-camera appearances have been questioned by several major international media outlets, pointing to growing concern among American voters about his age and mental state.

“Biden is not the man he used to be,” a June editorial history from The Independent, a UK newspaper, reads. “If the mounting evidence is not taken seriously, it risks not only a collapse of confidence in the White House that will affect future presidents, but also the specter of real crises during a second Biden term” .

“[Biden has an] inability to function properly,” a news item published Monday says the Hindustan Times, an Indian media. “He's been in the spotlight several times for his gaffes, mixing up people's names and struggling to remember simple words,” says another. piece from March.

Biden and his campaign team have minimized age and health concerns, sometimes leaning on his age as a positive given his decades of political experience. Regardless, Biden's fitness has remained an issue among swathes of voters; in New York Times/Siena poll conducted in March found that more than 70% of voters believed that Biden's age makes him “ineffective” or unable to handle the duties of the Oval Office.

“Biden's main opposition has come because of anxiety about his age and health,” a report in China's state-run Global Times in March reads.

Concerns about Biden were particularly covered by the international media after Justice Department special counsel Robert How released a report in February about Biden's possible mishandling of classified documents. The report recommended against bringing charges against Biden because he presented himself as a “well-intentioned older man with a bad memory” and a jury would likely find him not guilty.

Biden held a press conference conference the same day the report was released and criticized Hur's report, but he made a number of mistakes during statements and called out reporters, which some media outlets claimed highlighted Hur's findings.

“The events underscore the unenviable challenge facing Biden's aides, who know that every verbal slip can exacerbate the biggest liability facing the president: Voters worry he's not up to the task of task”, an editorial. history of The Japan Times in February, states that the Biden campaign is “trying to make it to November without major gaffes.”

“The numerous references in the report to Joe Biden's failing memory … give unprecedented force to questions about his physical and mental ability to get back on his feet,” a news report from French channel Le Monde. he wrote on the Hur report. “Worry episodes are increasing.”

Biden's behavior was questioned by several foreign media at the Group of Seven G7 summit on Friday, in which he stood alongside the leaders of the other G7 nations for a photograph before appearing to stray and to be brought back to the group by the Italian. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

“Joe Biden's 'unusual behavior' at G7 leaves leaders 'alarmed' and 'puzzled,'” a Monday news release holder from Sky News Australia reads.

“The video was widely shared on social media and sparked debate, with some questioning Biden's ability to serve another term,” an India Today news report said on Friday. readsclaiming that Biden has appeared “in a daze” in recent public appearances.

A survey by Pew Global Research published June 11 found that international confidence in Biden's ability to carry out foreign policy is falling; Adults polled in 14 countries, including Israel, Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia, said their trust in Biden had “fallen significantly” since 2023. Less than half of those polled in dozens of countries respondents said that Biden is handling the global conflicts of the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars correctly.

The big poll was done with thousands of respondents in dozens of countries. The typical margin of error for each country's survey was between 0% and 5%.

Biden's physical and mental fitness has been the subject of constant attacks by Trump and his campaign team ahead of the November election. The two are expected to square off on the debate stage in Atlanta, Georgia on June 27.

“Amid the pressing issues to be discussed in the first debate between the candidates in the upcoming US presidential election, age is being weaponized by both contenders,” a Telegraph editorial published on Sunday. reads. “But Biden, perhaps distracted by presidential duties … is late to the party when it comes to shadowing a person for being great. His apparent mistakes: stumbling, freezing, forgetting people's names and wandering without course, most recently at last week's G7 meeting in Italy, have been gleefully exploited by their opponents.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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