'Senile grandfather' Joe Biden struggled to complete sentences a year before dropping out, reveals book

In his book 'War', Bob Woodward quotes multiple people who allege Joe Biden failed to remember words and frequently meandered in his speech during events
UPDATED OCT 24, 2024
New book reveals President Joe Biden struggled to complete sentences a year before dropping out of the 2024 presidential race (Getty Images)
New book reveals President Joe Biden struggled to complete sentences a year before dropping out of the 2024 presidential race (Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC: President Joe Biden struggled to complete sentences at campaign fundraisers more than a year before dropping out of the 2024 Presidential race and witnesses described him as "frighteningly awful" and said he resembled a "senile grandfather," reveals a new book.

Attendees at fundraisers claimed that despite bringing a stack of note cards with pre-printed answers, Biden failed to stay on point and frequently meandered in his speech, per the New York Post.

Book reveals Joe Biden struggled to complete sentences

In his book 'War', Bob Woodward quoted a Democratic donor who said that at a Silicon Valley fundraiser in June 2023, Joe Biden "could not wait to sit down and only took two pre-arranged questions."

Woodward wrote, quoting a guest of the event hosted by Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott, "It was 'like your 87-year-old senile grandfather', wandering around the room, saying to women guests, 'your eyes are so beautiful'."

(Getty Images)
Joe Biden failed to recall the word 'veteran' and pleaded with the crowd for help describing a person who has 'served in the military' (Getty Images)

Interestingly, host and venture capitalist Steve Westly described President Biden as "energetic" and insisted that "he wouldn’t sit down for two hours" following a second donor event that same day, according to the author.

During a different event in June last year at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York, Biden failed to recall the word "veteran" and pleaded with the crowd for help describing a person who has "served in the military."

Joe Biden 'never completed a sentence' at fundraiser

Husband-and-wife philanthropists Michael and Susie Gelman hosted a 'Meet the President' fundraiser at their home in suburban Maryland on June 27, 2023. Liberties Journal President Bill Reichblum, who was in attendance revealed, "He never completed a sentence."

Reichblum added, "He would start to talk about something, jump somewhere else. He told the same story three times in exactly the same way and it meandered so much."

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 06: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a press conference in the State
Joe Biden had long been haunted by questions related to his age and mental acuity (Getty Images)

The Liberties Journal President continued, "Frankly, my impression was there were times it was was though we didn’t exist. He was just rambling and talking as to what came into his head."

Biden had long been haunted by questions related to his age and mental acuity and has frequently addressed those concerns with the refrain "watch me" and always joked about his octogenarian status.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 03: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to reporters before the start of a cabine
Top aides of Joe Biden had privately denied that the President’s cognitive state was deteriorating until the June 27 debate (Getty Images)

Woodward also wrote that top aides of Biden had privately denied that the President’s cognitive state was deteriorating until the June 27 debate against Donald Trump.

Before the Presidential debate, several Biden allies defended concerns about his age, with the White House comms department at one point launching a campaign ripping viral footage on social media of the president looking confused as "cheap fakes."

Kamala Harris defends Joe Biden

According to Bob Woodward, a Hollywood executive even told the president, "You’re f***ng up your campaign. Every time you get out and walk, people think 'old'."

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris recently defended Biden over those concerns and said that his terrible debate performance may not have been the only reason he stepped down from the race.

(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Kamala Harris recently defended Joe Biden over those concerns and said that his terrible debate performance may not have been the only reason he stepped down from the race (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

When asked about her past defense of Biden by NBC News’ Hallie Jackson on Tuesday, October 22, Harris said, "Joe Biden is extremely accomplished, experienced and capable in every way. I have worked with Joe Biden … hours and hours and hours over these four years."

She added, "I speak with not only with sincerity but with a real, first-hand account of watching him do this work."

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