Recently unearthed emails, which were obtained via FOIA request, revealed that the Biden administration was forced to cancel a visit to a National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) during a 2023 visit to the Philadelphia shipyard. Apparently, the ship had too many steps for the aging politician to comfortably climb.
For context, despite widespread rumors of Biden’s cognitive decline and numerous videos of the president getting lost or stumbling, his administration refused to acknowledge the obvious. After months of stalling, eventually the decision was made for Biden to drop out of the 2024 election, leading to the disastrous candidacy of Kamala Harris.
In any case, the MARAD official emailed members of the Office of Secure Transportation the details on Joe Biden’s decision to cancel the tour. The email read, “No visit to the NSMV vessel is planned after the WH realized how many steps were involved to get on the ship. {True – lots of steps on grating}.”
An official from the DOT, who was cc’d on the email, added more context, writing, “MARAD hasn’t had anyone reach out to them from WH. All info they have received has been from Philly shipyard. S2 team reached out to WH Advance, and that is how we confirmed the visit was scheduled. Nothing else heard and no further call made or received on this event that I am aware of.”
However, despite these concerns behind the scenes, in public, the administration kept insisting that Biden was perfectly healthy. Then Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre bristled at a question about Biden’s health, saying, “Look, we’ve been asked this question multiple times. And you have a president who — I just went through his Unity Agenda — what we’ve been able to do in a bipartisan way as it relates to issues that really matter to the American people — right? — the Cancer Moonshot, which is actually going to make a difference with people and family — fam- — Americans who have family members dealing with cancer. That is something that this president has been able to do.”
Reacting to the newly public emails, Michael Chamberlain blasted the decision to keep Biden’s condition secret. He responded, “There’s an awful lot wrong here, beginning with the White House planning a presidential visit to one of the most important shipyards in the nation without bothering to give a heads-up to the Department of Transportation, which has major ongoing projects there.”
Continuing his denunciation and tying this case to the 2024 election, Chamberlain continued, “That’s amateurish. Second and far more critical, the president’s staff was proscribing events he couldn’t physically handle more than a year before he dropped out of the re-election race, all while lambasting anyone who claimed he wasn’t fit enough to complete the Ironman Competition.”
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Concluding his remarks with a sardonic quip, he noted, “I realize there’s an elevator down to the White House Situation Room, but most voters would like to think they’re pulling the lever for a president who could take the stairs in an emergency.”
However, a former Biden aide deflected this criticism, arguing, “The massive size of the shipyard and that the size would be considered when planning events like this, adding that the email references steps and not stairs specifically.”