President Joe Biden, 81, did not mention any concerns about his health or divulge additional details about why he suddenly dropped out of the 2024 presidential race during his 11-minute speech in the Oval Office.
The clearest explanation he gave was that he didn’t want “ambition” to get in the way of his goal of “saving” democracy — coded language for saying he didn’t want to see former President Donald Trump win another term.
Biden’s formal address comes 28 days after his disastrous debate performance that jeopardized his re-election bid.
During the Atlanta showdown with Trump, Biden appeared confused and mumbled his words, as the White House tried to chalk it up to a bad night and the president having a cold.
But soon a series of reports emerged suggesting that the president had been deteriorating for several months.
President Joe Biden did not mention any concerns about his health during his address to the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday night.
Actor George Clooney wrote an op-ed for The New York Times saying that the Biden he met at a fundraiser in June…This wasn’t the “big deal” Joe Biden of 2010. This wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. This was the same man we all saw in the debate.
Clooney encouraged the president to step down.
Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton said Biden didn’t seem to recognize who he was when they met in Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day in June.
Republicans blamed the White House for a “cover-up” over the president’s health.
Biden did not make things any easier when, during a post-debate meeting with George Stephanopoulos, he refused to take additional medical tests, including a new cognitive exam.
The White House said a neurologist examined Biden in mid-January and the results were released alongside his annual physical in February.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also botched the initial response to a New York Post article that said A Parkinson’s expert had visited the White House.
President Joe Biden is pictured arriving in Dover, Delaware, last Wednesday after he tested positive for COVID-19. The positive result came after he told BET News that a “medical condition” could keep him out of the 2024 race
That expert, Jean-Pierre later clarified, was on campus as a neurologist in charge of the president’s annual exam.
Biden initially said that only “God Almighty” would make him give up his re-election bid.
Last Wednesday, during a pre-taped interview with BET News, the president said he would step down “if any medical condition were to arise.”
“If doctors came to me and said, ‘You have this problem, you have that problem,'” he added.
Hours later, the president tested positive for COVID and rushed back from campaigning in Las Vegas to Delaware, where he was not seen publicly for six days.
During that time he announced that he would be backing away from his plans for 2024.
Still, the White House never budged, saying Biden’s decision had something to do with his declining health.
When Biden’s younger brother, Frank he told CBS on Sunday who believed part of the president’s decision to abandon the campaign was related to his health, criticized a source close to the family.
“Frank Biden suffers from alcoholism and hasn’t spoken to his brother in weeks. What he said… is completely false,” the source said.
During Wednesday’s press conference, Jean-Pierre also ruled out that explanation.
“It has nothing to do with his health,” he said. “I can say no, that’s not the reason.”