President Joe Biden raised further concerns about his health with a thousand-yard long stare after joking that he would “get in trouble” if he answered questions from members of the media.
The president was wrapping up the launch of a task force to reduce the cost of living when he refused to answer questions from White House reporters.
‘I have a lot of questions. I better not start the questions. I’m going to get in trouble,” Biden, 81, said, picking up the microphone barely halfway through.
Biden then lowered the microphone and stood frozen like a deer in the headlights for about 15 seconds as reporters shouted questions at him.
Joe Biden sparked further concerns about his health with a thousand-yard long stare after joking that he would “get in trouble” if he answered any questions.
The president then muttered something that was inaudible without amplification as everyone left the room.
Hours later, his inevitable election opponent Donald Trump, 77, gave a powerful 20-minute speech after winning 12 of 13 primaries on Super Tuesday.
The president also won all but one Democratic primary, losing only American Samoa, which he also failed to win in 2020.
Biden made the same joke about not answering questions at least two other times during his presidency, and he answers less on average than most of his predecessors.
American presidents always have a busy schedule that can easily be derailed if events drag on because they answer too many questions, or none at all, frustrating their staff trying to keep things moving.
Presidents also routinely use it as a light-hearted excuse to avoid answering questions if they want to avoid topics that are likely to come up.
Biden interrupted reporters during a 2021 G7 summit press conference by blaming his staff.
‘Now, why don’t I answer some of your questions?’ he said she at the end of his comments.
After answering a question from the Associated Press about his plans to meet with President Vladimir Putin, he turned to a Bloomberg reporter for his second question.
“I’m sorry, I’m going to get in trouble with staff if I don’t do this the right way,” he said, and then called Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs.
Hours later, Biden’s inevitable electoral opponent, Donald Trump, 77, gave a powerful 20-minute speech after winning 12 of 13 primaries on Super Tuesday.
He answered more questions from Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and, as a final question, NBC News.
However, as he started to walk away, more questions were shouted at him.
“I’m going to have problems with my staff,” he said, turning to the press. ‘Yes, go ahead. But I can pretend I didn’t answer you.
The same year, Biden answered several questions during a Covid vaccination update, before joking that he was supposed to have already left.
‘You guys are bad. I’m not supposed to answer all these questions. “I’m supposed to leave, but I can’t resist your questions,” he said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden had a habit of staying to answer questions when he wasn’t supposed to.
“He answers questions almost every day that does not appear in the press. That’s not something we recommend,” she said.
‘In fact, we often say, ‘Don’t answer questions.’ But he will do what he wants because he is the president of the United States.”
Vice President Joe Biden then stumbles as he takes the stage to deliver a speech at Paddington Town Hall in Sydney on July 20, 2016.
Trump has taken to dancing on stage during his rallies, which, combined with his bombastic personality and younger appearance through fake tan and hair dye, helps him avoid criticism for his many mistakes.
Biden has a long history of gaffes, but questions about his age and mental toughness have persisted for the past three weeks following a special counsel report into his handling of classified documents.
The report did not recommend charges against Biden over the possibility of retaining classified documents, in part because a jury would view him as “a sympathetic, well-intentioned old man with a bad memory.”
The president held a press conference Thursday to question the report, but made matters worse by confusing Mexico and Egypt.
Trump has his own long list of gaffes that should alarm his supporters, including confusing the names of people and places and appearing physically frail.
But rather than diminishing her appeal, they seem to enhance it, or at least be ignored, as very few of her followers say their age worries them.
An Ipsos poll last week found that 86 percent of American voters felt Biden is too old for another term and 59 percent said both Biden and Trump were too old.