Columnist Ross Douthat claims Joe Biden's health has gotten worse since dropping out of 2024 race

WASHINGTON, DC: Rumors that suggest President Joe Biden's health may have been withheld by close aides and family members have only made the impact from his withdrawal from the campaign worse, alleged columnist Ross Douthat of the New York Times. 

"It’s possible, depending on Biden’s true capacities, that by rights he should have resigned and Harris should be president already — which probably would have put her in a better position to win the election even than her current honeymoon does," Douthat wrote in a column on Saturday, August 10, headlined, 'There is still a Biden scandal.'

Joe Biden has held only one public event this past week

Joe Biden has only hosted one public event this past week despite rising tensions between Iran and Israel and a sell-off in global markets on Monday that indicated unrest on Wall Street. "It’s also possible that there will come a crisis in the next few months that will make the Democrats wish that he’d resigned, rather than staying and then seeming overmatched," Douthat wrote. 

Ross Douthat said Joe Biden's inner circle may have 'encouraged the president to run for re-election'

Increased calls for Joe Biden to withdraw from the race following his debate performance, as per the columnist, have also surfaced rumors that the president's inner circle may have "encouraged the president to run for re-election and practiced deception amid his obvious decline."

"The potential scale of that scandal has diminished now that the country is no longer being asked to entrust the Oval Office to Biden for another four years," Douthat wrote, adding that the age of former president Donald Trump, who is 78, are "naturally going to claim more attention now that they’re contrasted with a younger rival."

Ross Douthat is skeptical of how the White House has been working recently 

"But Biden is still the president — albeit with a ‘scaled-down schedule’ for his last six months," Ross Douthat penned. 

He added, "The people who readily signed up for another four years of a 10-to-4 presidency are still running the government around him. And since things keep happening in the world — for instance, this week, the nation that we’ve been arming for a defensive war decided to invade Russia — it seems like America could stand to learn a bit more about how the White House has been working recently, and what a perceptive observer (say, someone like George Clooney) might notice if he were to observe Biden consistently over a few days or just a full 24 hours."

Ross Douthat said Joe Biden's image is portrayed as a paragon of 'self-sacrifice' to voters

Nevertheless, Ross Douthat observed, voters are being presented with a picture of Biden as a model of "self-sacrifice," rather than genuine concerns about his capacity to complete his term as president.

That "bargain," Douthat continued, "is so far working out so well for his anointed successor, who is surrounded by positive coverage and leading in some polls, the incentive structure for anyone who wants to see Trump defeated seems to favor not talking anymore about the cover-up of the president’s deterioration."

It appears that Biden's decision to drop out of the presidential contest has improved Kamala Harris in the polls. A survey conducted by Ipsos found that Trump and Harris are in a tight race for seven swing states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada.

Internet feels bad for Joe Biden after he rarely made public appearances this week

Joe Biden has not made many public appearances this week which has netizens worried about his health. One X user tweeted, "Poor joe I almost feel bad for him." Another wrote, "Life is like swimming against the river, once you stop, you fall back!" 

"Dememtia Joe is rapidly declining. He should resign and just stay at the beach. He will be lucky to survive another 18-20 months. And he won't remember much, if any, of his presidency. It's sad and it is a sad legacy how his minions hid it all from the american people," remarked one. 

"It’s treason to leave a mental incompetent in charge of our nation’s defense. I call for the arrest of Kamala Harris and the entire Biden cabinet," said someone else.

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