Voters have been expressing concern about Joe Biden’s age since he launched his presidential bid in 2019 at age 77.
But doctors told DailyMail.com that an alarming deterioration began in 2021.
After his disastrous performance in last week’s debate, many have wondered how long the 81-year-old’s faculties have been diminished, and how long his team has known about it.
We asked several doctors to review a time-lapse of the President’s sick emails over the decades and also consider his public appearances.
The consensus was that there had been a marked decline in both his appearance and cognitive abilities beginning in 2021, according to experts, who spoke on and off the record because of lingering fears that his comments could cause damage to his reputation.
They told the website the photos revealed a “glassy” and vacant look in Biden’s eyes, as well as a “blank” facial expression and paler skin starting about three years ago.
Biden at a Democratic candidates debate in 2019 looking dapper (left) and the sick president in 2024
Dr. Stuart Fischer, an emergency physician in New York City, said: ‘Looking through all these photos of Joe Biden, the only resounding success he’s had is his hair transplant. He still looks great!
‘But starting in 2021, there is a change in the expression of his eyes: he starts to look a bit like a zombie, with a vacant look.
‘This is particularly evident in June 2023 with Vice President Harris, where she starts staring blankly and stops moving, which has alarmed people.’
He added: ‘Normally people decline at different rates, and by age 80 you would expect to see some sort of decline.
“But at 81 he is too young to have such serious problems. If you think of Mick Jagger, who is 80 years old, for example, he still performs on stage with ease.”
President Biden showed classic signs of aging in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when he was Barack Obama’s vice president, experts said.
He had bags and grooves under his eyes, a receding hairline and sagging skin, to name just a few features.
But doctors interviewed by DailyMail.com said that around 2019, as Biden was preparing for his successful presidential campaign, his face was transformed.
Doctors DailyMail.com spoke to said Biden had been ageing normally until 2021/2022, when the decline became more pronounced.
Her skin appeared much smoother, which they said was likely due to plastic surgery, including a facelift and filler treatments.
Dr Smita Ramanadham, a plastic surgeon in New Jersey, said: ‘It seems like there is an ongoing battle with Biden as he is getting older and his team is trying to counteract that (rapid ageing and frailty) with various treatments.
‘All the treatments he’s had mean that he no longer really shows his emotions under his eyes, which can make it difficult to establish what’s going on internally because his emotions aren’t clearly shown on his face.’
Dr. Ramanadham said she, too, noticed a change in 2021: The president looked much older and frailer this time around.
She said: ‘Looking at the eyes and the expression around them, they seem to have a glassy, cloudy look in later images. They also have a large opening.
‘On your skin, it also appears to lose color over time, which is a sign of (advanced) aging.’
He added that it was also important to consider their movements as well as their expressions.
Dr Ramanadham said: ‘If you just watch him, he moves a little bit slower and he’s also slower to respond – you can see he’s almost processing the information and sometimes he has a blank stare as well.
Biden looking dapper in 1991 compared to last week’s debate against Donald Trump, which could prove to be the downfall of his presidency
“I think this is what triggers all the questions about his candidacy.”
Many doctors have privately suggested to DailyMail.com that he is probably suffering from some kind of illness, rather than simply ageing.
The White House has played down suggestions that Biden is suffering from neurological problems, saying the president simply had a “bad night” and was suffering from “a cold.”
The White House has said, however, that Biden functions perfectly well during the hours of 11 a.m. and 8 p.m., but can become prone to mistakes later in the evening.
Seven in 10 voters now say they do not believe Biden is mentally fit to serve as president, compared with about half who think the same about Trump.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent, CNNcalled today for Biden to undergo a cognitive test, in a sign that even sections of the media normally friendly to the president are changing their minds.
He wrote: ‘For me, as a brain specialist, it was disturbing to see President Joe Biden, and it quickly became clear that he was unaware of my reaction.
‘We often hear that observing a candidate campaigning is the best assessment of an individual’s physical and cognitive health.
“The country is watching now, and that assessment is a cause for concern and a need for transparent testing.”
Biden at his peak (left) and a video of the president staring into space on the White House lawn last month that raised concerns.
Many doctors are calling for Biden to undergo the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA, a screening test used to detect worrisome cognitive decline.
It is the test that Trump has taken twice and says he passed both times with flying colors, scoring 30 out of 30.
The test’s creator, Dr Ziad Nasreddine of Canada, also called on Biden to undergo the screening, telling DailyMail.com he could not remain silent after watching it at the debate last month.
This comes as the ailing president enters a crucial campaign weekend with his presidential bid teetering on the edge.
According to anonymous sources, Biden is aware that if he messes things up, he will reconsider his decision to run.