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‘Tripping, Freezing, Forgetting’: Foreign Media Says ‘Distracted’ Biden Is Getting Worse Ahead Of 2024 Election

Published

6 months ago

7 minute read

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By JAKE SMITH

 

Several foreign media outlets have published stories in recent months raising concern about President Joe Biden’s health ahead of the 2024 U.S. 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, remarks during press briefings and on-camera appearances have been called into question by a number of major international media outlets, who point to the increasing concern among U.S. voters about his age and mental status.

“Biden isn’t the man he used to be,” a June editorial story from The Independent, a U.K. newspaper, reads. “A failure to take the mounting evidence seriously risks not only a collapse of trust in the White House that will affect future presidents but the specter of real crises during a second Biden term.”

“[Biden has an] inability to function well,” a news story published on Monday by the Hindustan Times, an Indian outlet, reads. “He has come under the spotlight several times for his gaffes, mixing up names of people, and struggling to recall simple words,” reads a separate piece from March.

Biden and his campaign team have downplayed age and health concerns, sometimes leaning into his age as a positive given his decades of political experience. Regardless, Biden’s fitness has remained an issue among swaths of voters; a New York Times/Siena poll conducted in March found that over 70% of voters believed that Biden’s age makes him “ineffective” or incapable of handling the duties of the Oval Office.

“Biden’s main opposition has come from anxiety over his age and health,” a news story in the Chinese-state media outlet Global Times from March reads.

International media outlets especially covered concerns surrounding Biden after Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert Hur released a report in February regarding Biden’s possible mishandling of classified documents. The report recommended not pursuing charges against Biden because he presented himself as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” and a jury would likely find him not guilty.

Biden held a press conference the same day the report was released and criticized Hur’s report, but made a series of slip-ups during remarks and shouted at reporters, which some media outlets claimed highlighted Hur’s findings.

“The events underscore the unenviable challenge facing Biden’s aides, who know every verbal slip can exacerbate the biggest liability the president faces — voters worrying he’s not up to the task,” a editorial story from The Japan Times in February reads, claiming that the Biden campaign is “attempting to make it to November free of major gaffes.”

“The numerous references in the report to Joe Biden’s failing memory… give unprecedented force to questions about his physical and mental capacity to stand again,” a news story from French outlet Le Monde wrote about the Hur report. “The worrying episodes are increasing.”

Biden’s behavior was called into question by a number of foreign media outlets 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 wander off and be brought back to the group by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

“Joe Biden’s ‘unusual behavior’ at the G7 leaves leaders ‘alarmed’ and ‘bemused,’” a Monday news headline from Sky News Australia reads.

“The video was widely circulated on social media and sparked debate, with some questioning Biden’s ability to serve another term,” a news story from India Today on Friday reads, claiming that Biden has appeared “dazed” in recent public appearances.

A Pew Global Research survey published on June 11 found that international confidence in Biden’s ability to conduct foreign policy is falling; adults surveyed in 14 nations including Israel, Japan, the U.K. and Australia said their confidence in Biden had “dropped significantly” since 2023. Less than half of respondents in dozens of countries surveyed said that Biden is properly handling the global conflicts of the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars.

The large survey was conducted with thousands of respondents across dozens of countries. The typical margin of error for each country’s survey was between 0% and 5%.

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

“Amid the urgent issues for discussion in the first debate between the candidates in the forthcoming US presidential election, age is being weaponized by both contenders,” a Telegraph editorial story on Sunday reads. “But Biden, perhaps distracted by Presidential duties… is late to the party when it comes to throwing shade on a person for being old. His apparent lapses – tripping, freezing, forgetting people’s names, and aimless wandering – most recently at last week’s G7 meeting in Italy – have been gleefully exploited by his opponents.”

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

(Featured Image Media Credit: Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith)

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Censorship Industrial Complex

UN General Assembly Adopts Controversial Cybercrime Treaty Amid Criticism Over Censorship and Surveillance Risks

Published on December 26, 2024

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By Didi Rankovic

 

If you’re tired of censorship and surveillance, subscribe to Reclaim The Net.

Global cybercrime treaty faces scrutiny over human rights safeguards and potential misuse of cross-border powers.

As we expected, even though opponents have been warning that the United Nations Convention Against Cybercrime needed to have a narrower scope, strong human rights safeguard and be more clearly defined in order to avoid abuse – the UN General Assembly has just adopted the documents, after five years of wrangling between various stakeholders.

It is now up to UN-member states to first sign, and then ratify the treaty that will come into force three months after the 40th country does that.

The UN bureaucracy is pleased with the development, hailing the convention as a “landmark” and “historic” global treaty that will improve cross-border cooperation against cybercrime and digital threats.

But critics have been saying that speech and human rights might fall victim to the treaty since various UN members treat human rights and privacy in vastly different ways – while the treaty now in a way “standardizes” law enforcement agencies’ investigative powers across borders.

Considerable emphasis has been put by some on how “authoritarian” countries might abuse this new tool meant to tackle online crime – but in reality, this concern applies to any country that ends up ratifying the treaty.

Another point of criticism has been that UN members individually already have laws that address the same issues, rendering the convention superfluous – unless it is to extend some of those authoritarian powers to the countries that don’t formally have them, and can’t outright pass them at home for political reasons.

Since the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution without a vote – after the text was previously agreed on by negotiators – it is not immediately clear how many countries might sign it next year, and ratify what would then become a legally binding document.

In the meanwhile, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres referred to the treaty as “a demonstration of multilateralism.”

Where opponents see potential for undemocratic law enforcement practices spilling over sovereign borders, UN representatives speak about “an unprecedented platform for cooperation” that will allow agencies to exchange evidence, create a safe cyberspace, and protect victims of crimes such as child sexual abuse, scams and money laundering.

And they claim all this will be achieved “while safeguarding human rights online.”
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espionage

Textbook Case of FBI Grooming a Troubled Young Man to Commit Violent Crime

Published on December 26, 2024

By

By John Leake

Schizophrenic Jerry Drake Varnell was encouraged and assisted by an undercover FBI agent in “foiled” plot to blow up BancFirst building in Oklahoma City

In researching the strange cases of Thomas Matthew Crooks and Luigi Mangione, I have wondered with whom they were in contact, and if they were possibly groomed, by an undercover FBI who—for reasons that are unclear—wished to incite these young men to participate in violent crimes.

I first started wondering about FBI grooming when I learned about an undercover FBI agent’s involvement in the 2015 plot to attack a convention at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas (see my post “Tear Up Texas”: FBI Encouraged a 2015 Shooting & Did Nothing to Stop It).

This morning I learned about the remarkable case of a 23-year-old diagnosed schizophrenic named Jerry Drake Varnell who—with the encouragement and assistance of an undercover FBI agent in 2017—participated in what he believed was a plot to blow up the BancFirst building in downtown Oklahoma City. He was found guilty in 2019. In 2020 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison “for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction at BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City.”

According to the US Attorney’s Office press release on the conviction:

At trial, the jury heard testimony from an informant who made recordings of his conversations with Varnell. It also heard from the undercover FBI agent who helped Varnell build what he thought was a bomb, an FBI bomb technician, and others. It listened to numerous recordings in which Varnell planned the attack and reviewed numerous written electronic communications that corroborated his intent. Furthermore, it heard the testimony of a defense expert concerning Varnell’s mental health. Through its verdicts, the jury concluded any mental health problems did not prevent Varnell from forming the intent required for conviction. It also determined the FBI did not entrap him.

To me, what is most striking about this case—apart from the fact that the offender was a diagnosed schizophrenic—is how he drew the attention of federal law enforcement. As reported by KGOU (an Oklahoma NPR station):

Government witnesses said they deemed Varnell a threat based on his online activity such as “liking” anti-government groups on Facebook and messages referencing Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Tyler Durden, a split personality character from the 1999 film “Fight Club.” Agents also said Varnell claimed he had built homemade explosives during conversations with undercover FBI agent Williams and an FBI informant named Brent Elisens.

As was repeatedly pointed out by Varnell’s defense attorney:

Varnell is a diagnosed schizophrenic. He told federal agents that his anti-government sentiments started around age 16, the same age his parents say his schizophrenic episodes began.

Defense attorneys asked FBI agents if they knew of Varnell’s paranoid schizophrenia. Retired FBI agent Jennifer Schmidtz, who testified Wednesday, said she knew of “allegations” in a Custer County case involving Varnell and self-reported mental health issues in Varnell’s college transcripts. In a 2017 statement, Varnell’s parents claimed he has been institutionalized on multiple occasions.

The defense has team also focused on an FBI report from Dec. 2016 that stated, “Varnell does not have a job or a vehicle. The threat has not been repeated. Varnell does not have the means to commit the act at this time.”

By August 2017, the defense pointed out, Varnell was still unemployed and without a car. …

Varnell’s property was searched the day of his arrest, and Schmidtz, who supervised the search, testified there was no physical evidence showing Varnell experimented with chemicals capable of causing an explosion. The search did uncover a speech written by Varnell laiden with conspiracy theories about developing psychotropic drugs, the Clintons and Timothy McVeigh.

During cross examinations the defense continued to point out that Varnell never followed through on pieces of the plan he was responsible for, like choosing a time and place and supplying barrels. Varnell came up with a list of locations after encouragement from undercover agent Williams, and he settled on the on the BancFirst location after Williams took him to scout the location on July 13. He suggested Nov. 5 as an attack date, but Williams said it was too far away. And Varnell never supplied barrels, so Williams provided them.

In other words, “undercover agent Williams” was the chief planner and executor of the apparent plot. Jerry Varnell participated in this plot with the encouragement of undercover agent Williams and under the direction of undercover agent Williams.

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