Since he took office as US president in January 2021, Joe Biden has starred in several moments that have raised concerns about his health and his ability to lead the most powerful Executive in the world. That uneasiness to have reached the White House, whose communication team has written Biden a list of basic instructions for a meeting that the president was going to have with leaders of the energy sector.
Among these instructions were those to “enter the room and greet the participants”, “sit in YOUR seat” (like this, in capital letters, so as not to create confusion) or “thank the participants”. Biden held up a piece of paper on which these indications could be read, something that was quickly captured on camera by Getty Images photojournalist Drew Angerer.
As Business Insider publishes, it is not uncommon for a political leader to receive a summary of his day or even of those people with whom he is going to meet, but it is striking how specific the commands that have been written to Biden are, from remind you to say thank you, to sit in your seat and not someone else’s, or to remember to leave the room at the end of the meeting.
Over the course of these months several North American media have published the concern that exists in Washington, in the White House and in the Democratic Party about Biden, who will turn 80 this year, and who does not seem to have a clear successor -due to the Kamala Harris’s low popularity ratings- while the Republicans are reorganizing for 2024. In that future electoral appointment, in addition, he intends to stand for re-election (he will be 82, although in 2020, with 78, he was already the oldest president elected at the polls ).
Biden has generated concern around him for falling repeatedly while climbing the stairs of the presidential plane, for confusing some countries with others (Ukraine with Iran, for example, while talking about the invasion of Russia), for going blank in public speeches or for look disoriented on stage.
