The panelists on “Morning Joe” raged about the Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) lengthy column detailing President Joe Biden’s mental decline behind closed doors.
The new piece detailed the concerns about the 81-year-old president’s deteriorating memory and inability to properly communicate in large meetings. The piece further reflects voters’ concerns about Biden’s mental capacity and age ahead of the 2024 election.
The panelists accused the outlet of publishing an “outrageous” piece put together by Rupert Murdoch and Republicans ahead of the election.
“I don’t even know what to say. I really don’t even know what to say here,” a noticeably frustrated Joe Scarborough said.
“Well let’s just say that Joe Biden is 81 years old, and Donald Trump by the way will be 78 next week, so he’s not much younger,” co-panelist Willie Geist said. “So does he move a little slower and speak a little softer than he did 15 years ago when he was vice president, as former Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in the piece, yes he does. Yeah, I think most 81-year-olds do or at least were different than they were 15 years ago. This does have the feeling of Trump acolytes laundering their attacks through a prestigious news organization in the Wall Street Journal.”
Morning Joe has a meltdown about WSJ piece on Biden’s mental decline pic.twitter.com/Y5bkZiSUXT
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 5, 2024
Geist then claimed Trump’s mental acuity should be called into question, citing his recent Fox News interview over the weekend where he allegedly did “not seem to have it all together.” (RELATED: Majority Of Americans Believe Biden Is Mentally And Physically Unfit For Office: POLL)
Co-panelist Mike Barnicle tried to refute the allegations in the so-called “classic hit piece” by claiming it simply reflects Biden’s personality.
“I am sort of actually embarrassed for the Wall Street Journal about this piece,” Barnicle said. “And there’s one, at least to me and others who’ve spent any time at all — Joe, Mika, you [Jonathan Lemire] — anybody who has spent any time at all with Joe Biden knows one thing about Joe Biden above all else. He’s a talker. He’s a talker.”
“This piece is so tilted, so off the mark, is he 81 years old? Yes,” he continued. “Is he a little slower in terms of his reactions to some things? Probably. That I don’t know, we don’t know. What I do know, Richard, and you’ve talked to people I’m sure who have been with him in national security meetings, I’ve been with people who have been with him in the situation room where he literally goes around the globe in the situation … and points out the weaknesses and the strengths of the United States’ relationships with every country that he’s talking about with no notes, with no notes.”
Scarborough raged that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is quoted in the piece as evidence, claiming he privately finds Biden to be “very smart” and “mentally sharp.” McCarthy told WSJ in the piece that Biden is “not the same person,” alleging his “demeanor and command of the details” shifted consistently and relied heavily on notes.
“He would ramble,” McCarthy told the outlet in regards to a May 2023 meeting with the president. “He always had cards. He couldn’t negotiate another way.”
Following the meeting, he told reporters at the time that Biden was “very smart, very tough at the same time,” according to WSJ.
McCarthy further spoke on the phone with Biden before a possible debt default on May 21, 2023, where the president appeared to be “more with it than most of the time.” When he and other lawmakers met with him the following day, Biden allegedly appeared forgetful and confused.
Democrats quoted in the piece rushed to Biden’s defense, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries calling the president “incredibly strong, forceful, and decisive.” White House officials rebuked any claims about being unable to understand Biden or his mental sharpness.
House Speaker Mike Johnson attended a Feb. 27 meeting with Biden about military assistance to Ukraine, where he was stunned by the president’s alleged forgetfulness of details regarding his own policies, sources familiar with the matter told the WSJ. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates called Johnson’s allegations a “false account.”
A series of polls found voters are concerned about Biden’s age and mental capacity to serve a second term. A CBS News/YouGov poll found 26% believe Biden has the “mental and cognitive health” to serve a second term, while 43% said the same about former President Donald Trump. A WSJ poll found 36% of registered voters believe Biden is “mentally up for the job,” and 49% said the same about Trump.
