“This is why me and many people I grew up with have cancer,” said President Joe Biden, midway through a speech on the climate crisis, Wednesday. Shortly after, there were already questions on the networks: did the president admit he has cancer? Was it a fault? Or just another mess made by him?
The White House soon clarified that the Democrat was talking about the past: he had skin cancer a few years ago, now cured, and no longer with the disease. But the story went viral and made it onto TV shows.
“Joe Biden shocked the world by announcing, without warning, that he has a life-threatening illness,” Tucker Carlson said on Fox News on Thursday. “It’s been a difficult week. Wednesday, cancer. Thursday, coronavirus. Tomorrow will be monkeypox”, joked the conservative presenter, mixing the real information – the American president contracted Covid – with the false cancer alert.
Since the 2020 campaign, Republicans led by Donald Trump have characterized Biden, 79, as senile and confused, that is, unfit for office. Thus, the democrat’s gaffes and failures become ammunition to reinforce this narrative, in an environment of disinformation in which the distance between facts and distortions is increasingly smaller.
In recent weeks, Biden has recorded slips on at least two other occasions. On June 18, a sunny Saturday, the president went out for a bike ride. When he saw a group of people, he slowed down and, when trying to stop the bike for good to talk to them, he lost his balance and fell in front of the cameras. The fall caused many people to post photos and videos similarly falling, with the hashtag #Bidening.
On July 8, Biden gave a speech at the White House on abortion rights. When reading a teleprompter, she said, “End of sentence. Repeat line,” a guideline that was obviously not meant to be said aloud.
As with the cured cancer, the White House had to rush to correct strong statements by the president, such as when he went to Poland and said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin “can’t stay in power”. In Japan, he promised a military response to China in the event of an invasion of the island of Taiwan.
There are also twisted situations. In a video, the president appears, after a speech, extending his hand to greet someone — but there is no one there. The recording, in fact, is the result of editing a record of the Democrat in North Carolina, on a stage with supporters. Videos from other angles show Biden reaching out to greet the audience — he repeated the gesture in other directions.
During the trip to Israel two weeks ago, the situation repeated itself: he finishes his speech and points to the chair where he was going to sit, but a quick cut creates the impression that he is trying to greet the void.
In another video, there is no editing. Captured from a distance, the scene shows Biden honoring a war veteran with the Medal of Honor. In the false narrative, instead of the president placing the laurel on the ex-military’s chest, he would have placed it the other way around, on his back. Photos belie the alleged error.
The opposition seeks to link the failures to the age of Biden, the oldest president to take over the country in a first term. He will turn 80 in November and does not rule out running for reelection in 2024. If reelected, he could finish his second term at 86. Research published in early July by the New York Times with Siena College shows that, for 33% of Democratic voters, age is the main reason for preferring another candidate two years from now. Job performance comes next at 32%.
Worse: 94% of Democrats under the age of 30 say they want another name to run for the presidency, a sign that the concern is not only in the field of health, but also encompasses the renewal of the party.
On the other hand, a report in the same New York Times with people close to Biden reports a president “intellectually engaged, asking intelligent questions in meetings, interrogating aides on points of contention, calling them late at night and rewriting speeches.”
Advocates also recall that he stuttered as a young man, which makes him make some mistakes when speaking, and that, throughout his political career, the American leader has gained a reputation for making gaffes for saying things without thinking. At a rally in 2008, for example, he asked a senator in a wheelchair to stand up.
José Eduardo Pompeu, a doctor in neurology and professor at USP, recalls that the loss of agility and physical abilities is natural as a person ages. “There is no magic formula to prevent these losses, but they can be reduced. And each person ages in a way. There are elderly people in their 60s who are already very weak, and others close to 100 who are still very active”, he says. “It depends on many factors: genetics, diet and how the person behaved throughout their lives.”
He explains that one of the ways to assess whether old age is compromising activities is the occurrence of frequent problems: if falls, memory or speech failures become commonplace, it is a warning sign. “It’s also important to analyze the context of the failures. Biden was pedaling, something that requires great motor coordination, and he suddenly stopped to talk to people and answer questions. This may have generated a cognitive overload at that moment, which led to the fall”, says Pompey.
While the busy schedule and the excess of tasks can generate stress and more failures, the activities of the Presidency can help to delay aging. “The greatest protection against aging-related losses is active engagement with life, such as social involvement and physical activity.”
The White House releases the results of the president’s annual exams. The latest November report notes that the Democrat “remains fit for duty, fully capable of performing all his responsibilities without any exception or adaptation.” The document notes that Biden has a common dry cough when talking for long periods and that this has been happening for years and must be a consequence of gastric reflux. The Democrat is being treated for cardiac arrhythmia, cholesterol control, arthritis and allergies. According to the document, Biden does not drink or smoke and works out at least five times a week.
In any case, the collection of gaffes ends up giving the Democrat the image of an old man. A June poll by the Harvard University Center for American Political Studies showed that 60 percent of Americans have doubts about Biden’s suitability for the job. At the other end, 40% say they believe he is mentally fit to serve as US president. In May, it was 48%.
In another thread, 64% responded that Biden is showing he is too old to be president, against 36% who see him as fit for the job. In both cases, about a third of Democrats polled agree with Biden’s unflattering option, foreshadowing a difficult road to reelection and, more urgently, the risk that his image will be a burden in the November election.
To crown the week in which he mistakenly said he had cancer, Biden was diagnosed with Covid last Thursday (21). Already vaccinated with two booster doses, the president had only mild symptoms of the disease and, in the last bulletin, this Sunday, he had a sore throat as the main annoyance. The situation does not compare to the circus formed around his predecessor, Trump, when the Republican was infected.
At the time, there were still no immunizations available, and the hospitalization of the then president generated various speculations. Although he is one of those who most uses the age of the Democrat to attack him, the former head of the White House is just three short. If he runs in 2024, it will be Trump, 78, against a Biden about to turn 82.
Biden’s recent gaffes
June 18
bicycle fall
The president fell off his bicycle while trying to stop to speak to a group of people. But his foot got stuck on the pedal, and he fell to the side with it. There was no need to go to the doctor after the fall.
July 8
‘Repeat the line’
Speaking about abortion rights using a teleprompter, Biden read: “End of sentence. Repeat the line,” which was actually a guideline, not part of the text to be read aloud.
July 20
Cancer
In a speech about the climate crisis, Biden said he grew up in an area where there was pollution. “That’s why me and many people I grew up with have cancer,” she said. The White House later said that the comment referred to skin cancer that occurred in the past and that the president does not have the disease today.
