Retired journalist Curtis Wilkie, who covered Biden since he won his first Senate campaign decades ago in 1972, recently wrote an op-ed arguing that President Biden “should never have sought a second term.” That call came in a Wednesday, July 17, op-ed in the Mississippi Today paper. Wilkie argued that Biden’s obvious mental decline means he shouldn’t be trying to get re-elected.
Arguing as much, stating his case quite strongly in the Mississippi Today op-ed, Wilkie wrote, “President Biden should never have sought a second term.” Continuing, he noted that his perspective on the matter came thanks to decades of experience covering the president, and thus knowing what he’s like. He wrote, “I have an unusual perspective on this discussion dominating American politics considering I’ve known Joe Biden longer than any reporter who ever covered him.”
He then noted that the White House is known for being draining on those in the Oval Office, noting, “I’ve witnessed over the years how the relentless demands of the presidency have ravaged other occupants of the White House.” Adding some personal comments, he noted that his own cognitive health is declining thanks to age, so he has a good idea what Biden is going through; “And I share with Biden the frailties of old age that grip us both and have begun to diminish our physical and cognitive powers.”
Continuing, he noted that it was not the awful performance of Biden at the June 27 debate hosted by CNN is what led him to this conclusion, saying, “This is not a new concern of mine, produced by the president’s poor performance at last month’s debate.” Rather, it was over a year ago that he realized Biden is not mentally fit for the job: “I reached this conclusion during a long conversation in March 2023 with two old friends who had closer political connections to Biden than my own.”
Describing how Biden’s issues are of the same sort as his and he seems to be falling apart for the whole world to see, struggling particularly with things like names, Wilkie then wrote, “I began to notice Biden had some of the same handicaps. He butchers names or can’t remember them at all. Sometimes he appears balmy. His enthusiasm seems withered.”
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Wilkie also noted how Biden did not live up to his promised role as a transition president, saying, “I wish that Biden had lived up to his promise in 2020 to be a ‘transitional president.’ He had succeeded in driving Trump from the White House. His presidency has been mostly successful and free of catastrophe. Months ago Biden could have delivered a statesmanlike speech — prepared to serve out his four-year term and ready to leave the job to a younger generation. To walk away, genuinely able to say, ‘Mission Accomplished.’”