Everyone from Mike Johnson to members of Joe Biden's own staff are commenting on the 82-year-old president's noticeable decline in the final days of his presidency.
Biden, the oldest president in US history, was forced to withdraw from his re-election race after a debate disaster in June that left him looking weak and his mental abilities questioned.
As he leaves office on Monday, more and more people are beginning to speak out about the amount of agency the president had as he is set to bow out after one term in office.
Johnson, who will retain his position as speaker of the House of Representatives under Trump and a Republican Congress, said Biden stunningly told him at a January 2024 meeting that he had “not implemented” an executive order he signed months earlier '.
The order, announced Jan. 26 and still available on the White House website, placed a temporary pause on pending approvals for liquefied natural gas exports.
Johnson told The Free Press that he asked Biden: “Sir, why have you stopped LNG exports to Europe? There is high demand for liquefied natural gas among our allies. Why would you do that?'
Biden was surprised and said no, leaving Johnson stunned.
'He really didn't know what he had signed and I left that meeting with fear and disgust, because I thought, 'We are in serious trouble – who is running the country?' For example, I don't know who put the paper in front of him, but he didn't know.'
Everyone from Mike Johnson to members of Joe Biden's own staff are commenting on the 82-year-old president's decline in the final days of his presidency
Johnson, who will retain his position as speaker of the House of Representatives, said Biden told him at a meeting in January 2024 that he had “failed to implement” an executive order he signed months earlier.
Johnson's comments follow a New York Times story citing more than two dozen Biden allies, from aides to fellow lawmakers to donors, on how they planned to “manage his decline.”
Biden aides would reschedule meetings to suit the president's mood and would delay sharing negative information with him until they could figure out how to please him.
He was also typically surrounded by staffers as he walked to the South Lawn to catch the presidential helicopter, so as not to look weak on camera.
Perhaps most shockingly, Biden had to use a teleprompter for small fundraisers in private homes, while donors were forced to submit questions before he spoke.
They also shortened the president's steps to get onto Air Force One to prevent Biden from potentially tripping on camera.
Meanwhile, they publicly became angry at any member of the press who suggested Biden was incoherent.
Those who enabled the president are said to be First Lady Jill Biden, troubled son Hunter Biden, strategist Mike Donilon, adviser Steve Ricchetti, Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini and Jill Biden senior aide Anthony Bernal.
The six trusted confidantes managed Biden's schedule so that no one could see too many of the president's important moments.
Johnson's comments follow a New York Times exposé citing more than two dozen Biden allies, from aides to fellow lawmakers to donors, on how they planned to “manage his decline.”
Biden was fully aware of this perception and refused an orthopedic boot when he broke his foot four years ago, leading to a permanent gait problem.
Despite all evidence to the contrary, Biden has remained defiant in his final days.
The president told USA Today that he would have won re-election in a rematch against Donald Trump.
Biden, 82, acknowledged that his age was an issue, even admitting that he's not so sure how the four years would go after he wins this hypothetical second term.
“So far so good,” he said. “But who knows what I'll become when I'm 86 years old?”
In late July, Biden reluctantly ended his re-election bid and backed his No. 2 candidate to carry Democrats across the finish line in November.
But Harris, who never won a primary, failed to gain support and lost to Trump in historic fashion — including all seven swing states.
Biden said in his exit interview about his only term as president that if he had stayed in the race, he likely would have defeated Trump again.
“It's presumptuous to say that, but I think so,” Biden claimed, citing polls he reviewed.
Biden once bizarrely said that both he and Kamala Harris could have defeated Trump
However, when asked whether he had the strength to stay in office for another four years, he was less confident.
“I don't know,” he replied. “Who the hell knows?”
Days later, he bizarrely reiterated that both he and Kamala Harris could have defeated Trump.
“I think I would have beaten Trump – could have beaten Trump,” he said days before Trump returned to power. “And I think Kamala could have beaten Trump, would have beaten Trump. “It wasn't about… I thought it was important to unite the party,” he said.
He failed to specify why, if Harris could have defeated Trump, she did not actually emerge victorious. But he did admit that he feared a divided party would lose if he stayed.
The party fractured after his disastrous July debate over whether he could prevail while facing record low approval ratings.
“I thought I could win again, thought it was better to unite the party, and it was the greatest honor of my life to be president of the United States, but I didn't want to be someone who caused a party that wasn't was united. to lose an election,” he said. 'That's why I stepped aside. But I was confident she could win.”
As it turned out, Trump defeated Harris in all seven swing states and won the popular vote, as he reminded a New York judge on Friday on a day he was convicted of 34 felonies in his hush-money case.
