Does President Joe Biden actually have dementia? Nobody knows.
However, given that the 79-year-old president often displays common symptoms of the cognitive condition, it’s a fair question. Some of his repeated actions, like acting increasingly aggressive and physical toward reporters asking simple questions, as he did on Thursday, raise concerns that the U.S. president might possibly be experiencing a loss of cognitive function, which poses all sorts of problems, including national security concerns.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, some of the key symptoms of dementia include “aggressive behaviors” and “anger.” Anyone who’s lived with or taken care of a family member or friend with dementia can spot some of the same signs in Biden’s behavior, and that’s just what we see on television and the internet.
For instance, Thursday, before Biden boarded Marine One, the president was peppered with several questions by reporters. While answering those questions, the president seemed especially angry and aggressive toward them, even getting physical on a few occasions — all symptoms of dementia, especially in a person his age.
The first question was related to abortion rights. Upon providing his nonsensical answer in which he referred to the now-overturned landmark Roe v. Wade case, Biden can be seen reaching out and grabbing the reporter’s arms.
Reporter: "Should there be any restrictions on abortion at all?"
Biden: "Yes. There should be."
Reporter: "What should they be?"
Biden: "It’s Roe v. Wade. Read it, man. You’ll get educated." pic.twitter.com/Hk7bMUZBZl
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 20, 2022
Pretty bizarre, right? One can only imagine the sheer outrage from the left if former President Donald Trump exhibited the same erratic behaviors, to the point where he grabbed and yanked reporters’ hands and arms.
Another question seemed to rattle the current president, as a reporter pointed out the embarrassing lack of requests from Democratic candidates who want Biden to rally with them in the final stretch leading up to the 2022 midterms. Biden, in response, not only snapped at the female reporter, calling her “kid” and telling her to “count,” but he also reportedly grabbed her, too.
"John Fetterman's gonna appear with you today in Pennsylvania, but there haven't been that many candidates campaigning with you —"
Biden, grabbing the reporter: "That's not true! There've been 15. COUNT KID, COUNT!" pic.twitter.com/Weg5WPHrSU
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 20, 2022
Let’s take a quick look at some of the other key symptoms of dementia, from the National Institute on Aging, and see if they might ring a bell.
“Experiencing memory loss, poor judgment, confusion, difficulty speaking, understanding and expressing thoughts, or reading and writing.” It also listed “wandering and getting lost in a familiar neighborhood” as a symptom. Almost all of those top-level symptoms have been displayed by Biden at one point or another, sometimes multiple times.
— john (@johnhackerla) October 21, 2022
But who knows if he has dementia?
