When President Joe Biden mumbles his way through prepared remarks, the performance often saps listeners’ confidence in him.
Likewise, when the president tries extemporaneous speaking, the results invariably prove calamitous.
At a meeting Wednesday in Israel with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden showcased both of these deficiencies in a display of ineptitude that one commentator called “really embarrassing.”
That embarrassing moment came when the president tried to recall an anecdote. He failed.
“You know, years ago I asked the secretary of state when he and I were working in the Senate to write something for me, and, he said — he wrote a line — that I think is appropriate,” Biden began.
Having raised listeners’ expectations, the president then delivered a dud.
“He said, it’s not — we need — not just — well, I won’t go into it,” Biden said.
Thus, from the time he mentioned it to the moment he attempted to relay it, Biden forget the anecdote.
Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, journalist Michael Tracey shared a 39-second clip of the president’s brain freeze.
“This is just sad,” Tracey wrote in the post. “Biden tries to quote a line Blinken apparently wrote for him years ago when he was in the Senate, but realizes he can’t remember it and gives up.”
This is just sad. Biden tries to quote a line Blinken apparently wrote for him years ago when he was in the Senate, but realizes he can’t remember it and gives up pic.twitter.com/SacOBiQEvI
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) October 18, 2023
The world has noticed Biden’s cognitive decline.
Greg Swenson, chair of Republicans Overseas, a U.K.-based U.S. expatriate group, appeared on Britain’s GB News and responded to the president’s performance.
“I think what he said today, on the script, was good,” Swenson said in a clip posted to X on Wednesday.
“But when he went off-script, it’s really embarrassing, and I don’t think that gives the Israelis or Netanyahu or Americans great confidence in his leadership ability,” Swenson added.
‘When he went off script it is really embarrassing, and I don’t think he gives the Israeli’s great confidence in his leadership.’
Chair, Republican Overseas, Greg Swenson, reacts to Joe Biden’s statement alongside Benjamin Netanyahu. pic.twitter.com/yu4vrJqgmv
— GB News (@GBNEWS) October 18, 2023
Even that “script,” the substance of which Swenson praised, could not save Biden from himself. In the end, the president would have been better off staying home.
Through most of the sit-down meeting, Biden stuck to written remarks from notes he held in front of him. Netanyahu did likewise.
Whereas the prime minister projected vigor and spoke with clarity, however, Biden appeared ready for a nap.
For two minutes, the president spoke in a low tone that untrained listeners might mistake for solemnity. In truth, he always sounds that way.
Readers who wish to view both Netanyahu’s and Biden’s remarks may do so here:
Biden’s mental lethargy defies comparisons. Indeed, one racks one’s brain in search of recent world leaders who have exhibited anything comparable.
J.R.R. Tolkein’s “The Lord of the Rings” gave us one such character. Recall King Theoden of Rohan, who languished in weakness, barely able to speak let alone project strength.
Grima Wormtongue, the king’s sinister advisor, schemed on behalf of the evil wizard Saruman to control Theoden and topple Rohan. Eventually, the white wizard Gandalf helped break Saruman’s spell and restore Theoden to his former strength.
We read such stories in part because they remind us of what we despise and what we admire in leaders. In short, we despise all forms of weakness and admire genuine courage.
Alas, in the case of our current president, we have no Wormtongue to blame. Nor can we soon expect a Gandalf who might free us from this “really embarrassing” weakness.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.