During an event held in honor of D-Day soldiers, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, the leader of the Free World, President Biden, appeared to have a ‘senior moment’ as he stooped awkwardly, leading some to speculate that he may have had an unfortunate accident. The same thing happened a few days prior when he was taking questions from the White House press on his way to the presidential helicopter. Videos and images went viral on X and other social media platforms, inviting scorn and responses sympathetic to President Biden and suggesting that Dr. Jill Biden and the Democrats were subjecting him to elder abuse.
Back to Europe: at a G7 event to witness the skill of paratroopers, President Biden seemed to wander after a paratrooper had safely landed. The Italian Prime Minister politely rescued him, brought him back a few steps, and nudged him to face the cameras. Biden, with a practiced pair of hands, immediately hid his face behind aviator glasses. Later, when the Pope visited the G7 meeting, Biden greeted him unusually by touching his forehead to the Pope’s, clearly causing the Pope to cringe.
When Biden speaks in public, he often ends up mangling the words off the Tel-e-prompter so badly that they appear complete gibberish. Speaking at the Juneteenth White House event to celebrate African-American history, he said the following, according to a transcript released by the NY Post:
0:00 : she know long she knows so long as that
0:02: she was denied or Freedom can never be
0:05: secured she know long she knows so long
0:08: as was denied our freedom can never be
0:11: secured she know long she knows so long
0:14: as was denied our freedom can never be
0:17: secured she know long she knows so long
0:20: as that she was denied our freedom can
0:22: never be secured
The world sees a near-senile chief executive struggling to hold his own in front of short-duration press conferences where some of the questions appear to have been revealed to the White House in advance. Biden has slipped and fallen so many times while climbing steps to board Air Force One that his aides now make him use the shorter flight of stairs at the rear of the plane.
As we noted in an editorial earlier this week, Special Counsel Robert Hur released a damning report billing him as a ‘well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’ Numerous critics suggested that Biden’s unusually energetic State of the Union speech was possible only because he had popped stimulants to keep him active during the ceremony.
These critics haven’t silenced Biden’s loyal cabinet officials, who are constantly on TV, insisting that Biden is directing administration decisions on such ground-breaking and novel questions as using interest payments on frozen Russian assets to package a loan for Ukraine or preparing America to respond to aggressive actions by Russia, including the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons.
Speaking on Face the Nation, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan continued to name-drop Biden as if Biden was really in charge. The interview seemed surreal. Two examples:
On Israel: Look, Margaret, by far the most effective, certain, and right way to get all of the hostages out is to get a comprehensive cease-fire and hostage deal that President Biden described in public a few days ago, that Israel has accepted, and now that we are awaiting Hamas to respond to.
On the US permitting Ukraine to use US weapons to be fired into Russia around Kharkiv: What I will just say is this, from the President’s perspective, this was common sense. What was happening up around Kharkiv, which was new just in the last couple of months, was a Russian offensive where they were moving from one side of the border directly to the other side of the border, and it simply didn’t make sense not to allow the Ukrainians to fire across that border, to hit Russian guns and emplacements that were firing at the Ukrainians. So, the President authorized that.
The White House has had a history of hiding presidential illnesses from the public to project an image that Presidents are healthy, able, and active. Woodrow Wilson’s stroke in 1919 was largely kept secret from the public. His wife, Edith Wilson, and his physician, Dr. Cary Grayson, played significant roles in concealing his condition. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s declining health during his fourth term, when he suffered from polio and cardiovascular disease, was not fully disclosed to the public. When Dwight D. Eisenhower had a heart attack in 1955, it was initially downplayed as an upset stomach.
But, in President Biden’s case, his doctors tell us that he is healthy enough to run for a second term and complete his term in office, although he would be 85 years old when he hands over the presidency to the winning candidate in the 2028 election. No responsible individual can accept the idea that President Biden is currently in charge of the White House’s important domestic and foreign policy decisions, far less the idea that he can serve another four-year term.
Biden’s public appearances have made America a laughing stock as the world’s wealthiest democracy continues to weaken in its global standing. Most of the world, other than G7 leaders, believes that America is needlessly pursuing a war in Ukraine, propping up a leader in Zelenskyy whose elected term expired on May 19. Further, most of the world is critical of the way the rudderless White House has conducted diplomacy and the war in Gaza.
In Biden, the world sees a weak leader in the White House who is neither trustworthy nor stable in his convictions or mental faculty. It was no surprise to many when Saudi Arabia announced that it would not renew its 50-year petro-dollar deal with the United States, which expired on Sunday, 9 June 2024. Just a week earlier, the Kingdom had announced that it was joining BIS and a China-led central bank digital currency project to move oil trading away from the dollar.
The Biden campaign has engineered a tightly controlled debate environment at CNN on June 27 to dispel fears that Biden is incapable of remaining president. Two reliable moderators who have been bitter critics of Trump—Dana Bash and Jake Tapper—and an environment where microphones would be automatically cut off after the allowed time are intended to help Biden. There will be no audience to cheer or jeer, so Biden can recite memorized words regardless of the questions asked.
The world will be watching.
TIPP Takes
Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, And More
1. Israeli Military Announces Tactical Pauses In Gaza For Aid Supplies – Al Arabiya
The Israeli military said military activity would be paused from 8 am (0500 GMT) to 7 pm (1600 GMT) daily until further notice along the road leading from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards.
The decision was made following discussions with the UN and other organizations as part of efforts to “increase the volumes of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip.”
2. Qatar And Egypt Plan Talks With Hamas On Gaza Truce: White House – Reuters
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that mediators for Qatar and Egypt plan to engage Hamas militants soon to see if there is a way to push ahead with a Gaza ceasefire proposal offered by President Joe Biden.
Hamas has welcomed the ceasefire proposal but insists any agreement must secure an end to the war, a demand Israel still rejects. Israel described Hamas’s response to the new US peace proposal as a total rejection.
3. Ukraine Seeks Path To Just Peace At Swiss Summit – AFP
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hoped to find paths to a “just peace” as soon as possible, as a first international summit on pathways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine opened Saturday.
More than 50 world leaders were joining Zelensky in Switzerland for a two-day peace summit – though with Moscow rejecting the event, it only has the modest ambitions of laying the groundwork for ending the conflict, now in its third year.
4. Putin Peace Terms Slammed At Ukraine Summit – BBC
The leaders of Italy and Germany have strongly rejected ceasefire terms laid out by Vladimir Putin to stop the war in Ukraine at the summit in Switzerland to discuss ending the conflict.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the Russian president’s plan “propaganda,” which effectively suggested that Ukraine “must withdraw from Ukraine.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed it as a “dictatorial peace.”
A draft declaration issued at the summit reaffirms Ukraine’s territorial integrity and unambiguously rejects any nuclear threat against the country.
5. U.S. Announces $1.5 Billion In Ukraine Aid At Switzerland Peace Summit – Reuters
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced the aid for Ukraine’s energy sector and its humanitarian situation as a result of Russia’s invasion.
She also announced more than $379 million in humanitarian assistance from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to help refugees and other people impacted by the war.
6. Secretary Of Russia’s Ruling Party Steps Down – RFE/RL
Andrei Turchak resigned from his post as secretary of United Russia.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Turchak governor of the Altai Republic, a move seen by observers as political exile for a man once described as Putin’s star student. Turchak also serves as the first deputy chairman of the Federation Council.
7. Olympic Committee Approves 25 Russian, Belarusian Athletes For Paris Games – A.P.
The Olympic governing body approved 14 Russians and 11 Belarusians with neutral status to compete at the Paris Games this summer. The athletes compete in four sports: cycling, gymnastics, weightlifting, and wrestling.
After initially banning the two countries’ athletes from world sports following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the IOC adjusted its regulations to allow their participation under a neutral banner subject to strict conditions and excluding team events.
8. China Backs Authoritarian Governance – Report – AFP
A report this week said that China has organized seminars and training courses for officials in African and Latin American countries to promote its single-party system and President Xi Jinping’s worldview.
The report released by a Washington-based think tank details efforts to promote single-party rule and Xi’s thinking to BRI partners in parts of Africa, Latin America, and beyond, drawing on hundreds of publicly available documents from China’s commerce ministry.
9. ‘Shelving Differences Key To China-Australia Ties’ – AFP
Chinese Premier Li Qiang called for “shelving differences” with Australia as he embarked on a four-day trip dangling the promise of expanded trade despite their geopolitical rivalry.
China gradually removed severe trade sanctions imposed on Australian wine, timber, barley, and beef exports in 2020 during a diplomatic rift with Canberra’s former conservative government. Tariffs on rock lobsters remain.
10. Iran Rebukes G7 Statement Over Its Nuclear Program Escalation – Reuters
Iran called upon the Group of Seven to distance itself from “destructive policies of the past,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said, referring to a G7 statement condemning Iran’s recent nuclear program escalation.
On Friday, the G7 warned Iran against advancing its nuclear enrichment program and said they would be ready to enforce new measures if Tehran were to transfer ballistic missiles to Russia.
11. Sweden And Iran Exchange Prisoners In Breakthrough Deal, Officials Say – Reuters
Sweden freed a former Iranian official convicted for his role in a mass execution in the 1980s, while Iran released two Swedes being held there.
Oman mediated the prisoner swap, the country’s foreign ministry said. “Omani efforts resulted in the two sides agreeing on a mutual release, as those released were transferred from Tehran and Stockholm,” it said.
12. ‘Largest Neo-Nazi Group In Sweden’ Now Designated As Terrorist Organization By U.S. – UPI
The U.S. State Department designated the Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) and three of its leaders as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
“NRM’s violent activity is based on its openly racist, anti-immigrant, antisemitic, and anti-LGBTQI+ platform. The group’s members and leaders have carried out violent attacks against political opponents, protestors, journalists, and other perceived adversaries,” the State Department said.
13. Brazil: Thousands Protest Bill Tightening Abortion Ban – D.W.
Thousands of women took to Brazil’s major cities to demonstrate against a bill that would classify abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy as homicide.
In Brazil, abortion is currently only allowed in cases of rape, fetal deformation, or when the mother’s life is in danger. Otherwise, the practice is punishable by one to three years in jail.
The bill advancing in the country’s Congress would establish sentences of six to 20 years for abortions carried out after 22 weeks of gestation.
14. South African Parliament Re-Elects President Cyril Ramaphosa – UPI
A new deal struck between Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance Party resulted in South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s re-election for another term.
Ramaphosa’s re-election chances had dimmed in May when the ANC lost its majority status in Parliament after voters expressed frustration regarding a relative lack of improvement for the nation’s Black population.
15. Even Temporary Loneliness Can Negatively Affect Health – HealthDay News
You generally don’t consider yourself a lonely person, but sometimes you have days where feelings of loneliness set in. If you’re one of those people, even that transient loss of connection with others could be impacting your physical health, a new study finds.
Long-term loneliness is a known health risk factor – so much so that in 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy labeled loneliness a public health crisis.
Republished with permission from TIPP Insights
