White House aides hid Joe Biden’s mental decline from Day 1 of presidency

Joe Biden’s declining mental state was covered up by White House aides from day one of the ageing statesman’s presidency an explosive new report reveals.

White House aides covered up President Biden’s apparent mental decline from Day 1 of his presidency, an explosive report revealed Thursday.

The outgoing US President’s age-related gaffes were shielded from the public with his closest aides even resorting to rearranging his schedule after scatterbrained performances, the report reveals.

Aides, Democratic politicians and donors who spoke with the Wall Street Journal have lifted the veil on the extent to which the White House made up for the ageing commander-in-chief’s ability to front the media and the public.

It has been well-known that access to the nation’s oldest-ever president has been a tightly orchestrated affair in Washington.

US President Joe Biden with First Lady Jill Biden after stepping off Marine One on their return to the White House in Washington, DC, on December 19. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP

Mr Biden has hosted the fewest large press conferences as US President in modern history and often made gaffes at the podium when he appeared.

Presidential staff formed a tight shell around the 82-year-old from the first day he took office amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with staff immediately limiting his in-person interactions in January 2021.

But staffers then began adjusting Mr Biden’s daily plans when he stumbled on the world stage – both on his words and his feet.

By spring 2021, meetings were being rescheduled to accommodate for the president’s “good days and bad days.”

According to the Journal, a national security official told an aide at the time: “He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow.”

Aides rush to help President Biden after he fell during the graduation ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy on June 1, 2023. Picture: Brendan Smialowski / AFP

Meetings were often scheduled for later in the day — a fact first disclosed after Biden’s debate flop against President-elect Donald Trump, when staff admitted the then-Democratic nominee had difficulty functioning outside a six-hour window that closed around 4pm daily.

Once inside the room with the president, officials were instructed to make their briefings short and to the point.

Even private discussions with top cabinet picks, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, became increasingly infrequent.

A former aide revealed one cabinet official gave up trying to reach out to those in charge of the president’s diary after being repeatedly blocked from scheduling talks.

Those who did get an audience with the president were told to make any briefings short and to the point.

Onlookers rush to Mr Biden’s aid while others film on their phones after he fell off from a bike during a ride in Delaware on June 18, 2022. Picture: Saul Loeb / AFP

Hollywood mogul and campaign co-chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg was brought in as a voice coach to improve Mr Biden’s faint, raspy tone.

Negative reports that filtered in about Mr Biden’s ability to lead were also swiftly removed from his daily news file – misleading the commander-in-chief over the public’s opinion of his performance.

A 2024 poll showed Mr Biden was the least popular president in 70 years rating even lower than Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter.

In Mr Biden’s defence, deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said the report’s characterisation of his boss was wrong.

“President Biden speaks with members of his cabinet daily and with most members multiple times a week, staying close with them about implementation of key laws and strengthening our national security,” Mr Bates said in a statement.

“President Biden leads a modern administration. Cabinet meetings are an important tradition, but the contemporary work environment means they can be fewer and far between.”

Negative reports about Mr Biden’s ability to lead were swiftly removed from his daily news file by staffers. Picture: Tierney Cross / AFP

But others maintain that signs of Mr Biden’s decline were there throughout his term as president, including his need to rely on written card prompts, was spotted having large directions printed for him, mixed up the names of foreign dignitaries, facts and made gaffes when he went off-script or failed to follow his teleprompter.

The president’s sit-down with special counsel Robert Hur over what was later deemed his “wilful” retention of classified documents also tested his mental stamina.

Mr Biden reportedly pushed for the Hur interview with the Wall Street Journal and staffers backed the decision in hopes of showing that the president was more cooperative than his predecessor Donald Trump.

But preparation for the interview became problematic when they stretched out to three-hour daily sessions and Mr Biden failed to memorise lines amid flagging energy levels, the WSJ reported.

Mr Biden addresses a special report that cleared him of any wrongdoing in his mishandling of classified documents. The report also painted the US President as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Picture: Mandel Ngan / AFP

A transcript posted after the gruelling, two-day affair in October 2023 revealed he forgot the year his son Beau Biden died of brain cancer.

According to The Post, a source close to the president dismissed his hazy recall saying: “Every person who has ever prepared for a legal interview has forgotten some of the prep.”

The protective ring around Mr Biden didn’t loosen during his brief and unsuccessful re-election campaign with Democrat donors being surprised by the degree of control held by staffers who fielded questions on behalf of the president at an alarming rate.

While poll numbers were directly relayed to Mr Biden during the 2020 election race, in 2024, they were passed on to campaign aides through memos.

Mr Biden with his grandson Beau Biden during a Hanukkah holiday reception in the East Room of the White House. Picture: Jim Watson / AFP

The withholding of the information particularly concerned Biden campaign pollsters as Trump’s numbers began to tick up.

The WSJ even reported that campaign staff became concerned that first lady Jill Biden would outshine the president, even during the 2020 primary.

“The more you talk her up, the more you make him look bad,” her press secretary Michael LaRosa told the Journal.

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden attend a Hanukkah holiday reception in the East Room of the White House on December 16, 2024. Picture: Jim Watson / AFP

During her husband’s term, the first lady even tried to stop him from going it alone too long at press conferences, fearing he’d be caught flat-footed by questions as the events dragged on.

“President Biden has earned the most accomplished record of any modern commander-in-chief and rebuilt the middle class because of his attention to policy details that impact millions of lives, his active solicitation of diverse opinions from outside experts, everyday Americans, members of Congress and other elected officials, his cabinet, and historians, and because of his determination to fulfil a big-picture economic agenda that realised major priorities Democrats have worked toward for decades,” Mr Bates added in a statement to The Post.

“During every presidency, there are inevitably some in Washington who do not receive as much time with whomever the president is as they would prefer; but that never means that the president isn’t engaging thoroughly with others, as this president does.”

Originally published as White House aides hid Joe Biden’s mental decline from Day 1 of presidency