International
‘Tripping, Freezing, Forgetting’: Foreign Media Says ‘Distracted’ Biden Is Getting Worse Ahead Of 2024 Election
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)
Quick Hit:
Bryan Kohberger will plead guilty to murdering four Idaho college students, avoiding a death sentence but leaving victims’ families without answers. The plea deal means he’ll spend life in prison without ever explaining why he committed the brutal 2022 killings.
Key Details:
- Kohberger will plead guilty at a hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 11 a.m. local time.
- The plea deal removes the possibility of death by firing squad but ensures life in prison without parole.
- Victims’ families say the state “failed” them by agreeing to a deal that denies them an explanation for the murders.
Diving Deeper:
Bryan Kohberger, a former PhD criminology student at Washington State University, is expected to plead guilty to the November 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, sparing himself the death penalty but also avoiding any explanation for his motive. Idaho defense attorney Edwina Elcox told the New York Post that under the plea, Kohberger will have to admit to the killings but won’t have to provide a reason for his actions. “There is no requirement that he says why for a plea,” Elcox explained.
Prosecutors reached the plea deal just weeks before the scheduled trial, which many believed would have revealed the full details and motives behind the shocking quadruple homicide. Kohberger is accused of murdering Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Ethan Chapin, 20; and Xana Kernodle, 20, with a military-style Ka-Bar knife as they slept in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho. His DNA was allegedly found on a knife sheath left at the scene.
The Goncalves family blasted the state for the deal, saying, “They have failed us.” They had hoped a trial would uncover why Kohberger targeted their daughter and her friends. Prosecutors, however, argued that the plea ensures a guaranteed conviction and prevents the years of appeals that typically follow a death sentence, providing a sense of finality and keeping Kohberger out of the community forever.
Sentencing will not take place for several weeks following Wednesday’s hearing, which is expected to last about an hour as the judge confirms the plea agreement is executed properly. While the families may find some closure in knowing Kohberger will never be free again, they are left without the one thing a trial could have provided: answers.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, Pool)
CBS will pay Donald Trump more than $30 million to settle a lawsuit over a 2024 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. The deal also includes a new rule requiring unedited transcripts of future candidate interviews.
Key Details:
- Trump will receive $16 million immediately to cover legal costs, with remaining funds earmarked for pro-conservative messaging and future causes, including his presidential library.
- CBS agreed to release full, unedited transcripts of all future presidential candidate interviews—a policy insiders are calling the “Trump Rule.”
- Trump’s lawsuit accused CBS of deceptively editing a 60 Minutes interview with Harris in 2024 to protect her ahead of the election; the FCC later obtained the full transcript after a complaint was filed.
Tonight, on a 60 Minutes election special, Vice President Kamala Harris shares her plan to strengthen the economy by investing in small businesses and the middle class. Bill Whitaker asks how she’ll fund it and get it through Congress. https://t.co/3Kyw3hgBzr pic.twitter.com/HdAmz0Zpxa
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 7, 2024
Diving Deeper:
CBS and Paramount Global have agreed to pay President Donald Trump more than $30 million to settle a lawsuit over a 2024 60 Minutes interview with then–Vice President Kamala Harris, Fox News Digital reported Tuesday. Trump accused the network of election interference, saying CBS selectively edited Harris to shield her from backlash in the final stretch of the campaign.
The settlement includes a $16 million upfront payment to cover legal expenses and other discretionary uses, including funding for Trump’s future presidential library. Additional funds—expected to push the total package well above $30 million—will support conservative-aligned messaging such as advertisements and public service announcements.
As part of the deal, CBS also agreed to a new editorial policy mandating the public release of full, unedited transcripts of any future interviews with presidential candidates. The internal nickname for the new rule is reportedly the “Trump Rule.”
Trump initially sought $20 billion in damages, citing a Face the Nation preview that aired Harris’s rambling response to a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That portion of the interview was widely mocked. A more polished answer was aired separately during a primetime 60 Minutes special, prompting allegations that CBS intentionally split Harris’s answer to minimize political fallout.
The FCC later ordered CBS to release the full transcript and raw footage after a complaint was filed. The materials confirmed that both versions came from the same response—cut in half across different broadcasts.
CBS denied wrongdoing but the fallout rocked the network. 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens resigned in April after losing control over editorial decisions. CBS News President Wendy McMahon also stepped down in May, saying the company’s direction no longer aligned with her own.
Several CBS veterans strongly opposed any settlement. “The unanimous view at 60 Minutes is that there should be no settlement, and no money paid, because the lawsuit is complete bulls***,” one producer told Fox News Digital. Correspondent Scott Pelley had warned that settling would be “very damaging” to the network’s reputation.
The final agreement includes no admission of guilt and no direct personal payment to Trump—but it locks in a substantial cash payout and forces a new standard for transparency in how networks handle presidential interviews.
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