As questions about President Joe Biden’s cognitive health circle, certain videos of the elderly president making awkward gaffes or having shocking moments in the public eye, such as when he looks confused or freezes up, are finding their way back into the public conscious, namely through old posts of them resurfacing on X or the videos being reposted.
Among those that came back up on my feed recently was on of Biden, in January of 2024. In the video, Biden tells the South Carolina crowd that if he was “smart,” he would just leave. Making the odd remark even more awkward and, from the perspective of thinking about the competence of the commander-in-chief, worrisome is that he stumbled over his words while making a comment, slightly freezing up and significantly stumbling.
Beginning that part of the speech, he said, “Look, it’s — it’s good be home with so many friends I’ve known for so long. And tonight, I’m thinking of so many of my friends who are no longer with us, like Fritz and Peatsy Hollings. And they were here for me when I first got started in a tough time of my life, when I didn’t want to stay in the Senate. They embraced me. They included me in everything and kept me going. They’re always with me in spirit.”
He continued, commenting on the Clyburns as the audience laughed a bit, “The same goes for Emily Clyburn. You know, Jim — Jim is the reason that I’m president, because he endorsed me and got all of you to help me. But I later learned Emily convinced him to endorse me. Jim, we miss her. And you’re the best friend anyone could have.”
Then it got to the very awkward part, during which he somewhat stumbled over his words and said that if he was smart, he would say “thank you” and leave, telling the crowd, “Folks, I — if I were smart, I’d say “Thank you” and leave — because Jim made the case for me better than I can make the case for me.”
Watch that moment here:
https://x.com/RNCResearch/status/1751405462765949290
The RNC Research X account, which is run by the Republican National Committee, posted a clip of the awkward moment and called it a “brain malfunction.” Commenters chimed in with hilarious comments, many of which encouraged the president to take his own advice and just leave, presumably meaning the White House too.
“Nobody’s stopping you from leaving,” said one. Another added, “Please do so. And don’t come back.” Yet another said, “Wonder why he’s still standing there ⁉️😁” Hilariously, a woke commenter didn’t get that people were joking about saying Biden should leave and, in a huff, said, in response to the previous comment, “Because it was a joke. He actually has a sense of humor and can poke fun at himself.”
Still another commenter, this one a quote tweeter, chimed in with a very funny fake Rodney Dangerfield skit involving Biden, saying, “I’ll tell ya, I get no respect. The other day Jill’s spoon feeding me oatmeal and pokes me in the eye with the spoon. I said, “Hey, what are you doing?!?” She said, “Shut up and go back to sleep.” I get no respect.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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