“This is Just Pure Sadness!” Biden’s Pause at Juneteenth Event Sparks Online Mockery
File Photo: Reuters
During Monday night’s dance festivities at the White House Juneteenth performance, President Joe Biden reportedly seemed to pause for a moment. A video of the event has gained a lot of attention online as it shows President Biden seeming to freeze mid-song while other dignitaries kept dancing and applauding.
After what seems like an eternity, Philonise Floyd, the late George Floyd’s brother, finally approaches Biden and puts an arm around him in the clip. In the comment section of the YouTube video, several mocked the President. One user wrote, “Yea America is definitely in trouble! This is just pure sadness! He needs to retire and enjoy a retirement-age lifestyle, and go with dignity in the end!
How can their family members let this happen?” Another user chimed in, “The sad, frozen, blank stare of a dementia patient suffering from a sensory overload. Having him as president in this condition is a crime.” Another joked, “He was staring across the field at the ice cream vendor wishing the damn song would end so he could get a chocolate cone.” A different person quipped, “He found Hunter’s stash.”
Interestingly, President Biden will be only a few weeks short of 82 years old on Election Day, and this election season is rife with concerns about candidates displaying symptoms of age-related cognitive decline. The electorate is concerned about the situation, as is evidenced by opinions posted online.
Some users even took to Twitter to make fun of Biden, bringing up his age once again. One commented, “Joe Biden freezes ’cause he’s too old for that type of event. He has no rhythm, or energy for dancing. He doesn’t even remember his name, all these under serious medication to bump his brain. Imagine without drugs… the world is laughing at us. This guy pees on his pants, but no one notices.”
Another wrote, “President Joe Biden is actually glitching. Stop this charade. He shouldn’t be Commander-in-Chief now, never mind for another 4 years. His 5-minute Juneteenth speech was a series of flubs, but this glitch is deeply concerning. Is he having mini-strokes?”
In the current presidential election cycle, which is developing into a repeat of the 2020 contest between Biden and Donald Trump, questions about Biden’s mental capacity and age of 81 have persisted. No one else except the president has the authority to launch a nuclear attack, and the job also requires endurance and clear communication, among other qualities.
Given the recent string of gaffes Biden has made, netizens have been wondering if the POTUS’ health has declined irrevocably. Several Republicans have also demanded that the transcript of Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur—the man in charge of the inquiry into Biden’s handling of sensitive documents—be made public, given Hur’s assessment of Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory.”
Respondents to a March survey by Marquette Law School ranked Biden at 77% for being “too old to be president,” compared to 52% for Trump. Additionally, 62% of respondents to an April Pew Research study felt that Biden lacked the “mental fitness needed to do the job,” compared to 48% who felt the same way about Trump.
