President Biden struggled to answer a reporter’s question on a subject he had just been briefed on over the weekend and had to reach for notes after being distracted by a cashier while checking out at a Michigan pie shop.
The exchange raised concerns about Biden’s mental acuity.
“Mr. President, please let me know if I can ask you a question,” a member of the traveling White House press pool told the Commander in Chief.
A grinning Biden – who was paying for cherry pie on Saturday at the checkout in the King Orchards Farm Store in Central Lake, Michigan – told the reporter, “Sure”.
“With the recent hack by the Russians, you would say that -” the reporter said before being interrupted and asked about the gigantic cyberattack that hit over 200 US companies on Friday.
“We’re not sure if it’s the Russians,” said Biden. “I got a letter when I was on the plane. That’s why I got off the plane too late. “
The video of the exchange, recorded by another pool reporter, then becomes flawed, even though the president apparently stops speaking altogether in order to insert his credit card into the chip reader.
Before he started answering the reporter again, the cashier asked him if he needed his receipt before the sound went off temporarily and the video froze.
“I’m in better shape to speak to you about it,” Biden said seconds later when the video returned, just before he paused to pull notes from his jacket pocket on the subject he had just been briefed on .
“I’ll tell you what they sent me, OK?” He said then, reading from the piece of paper.
“The idea,†he began after taking a few moments to collect his thoughts, “[F]First, we’re not sure who it is, number one. And what I’ve done, I’ve directed all government resources to help with a response if we see what else you need? ‘ said Biden, drawing his attention to the cashier.
“Oh nothing, you’re done,” she replied.
“Okay,” he said to the cashier, then turned his full attention to the reporter’s question.
“The fact of the matter is, I directed the Secret Service to give me a deep dive into what was going on, and I’ll know better tomorrow. And if it happens to either knowledge and / or a consequence of Russia, then I told Putin we would answer, â€he said, putting the notes in his pocket.
When asked if he had already spoken to the Kremlin, Biden said he had not done so as he was waiting for intelligence services to confirm the information before taking action.
He then voiced doubts in the intelligence community that Russia was the source of the hack.
“We are not sure. The first thought was that it wasn’t the Russian government, but we’re not sure yet. “
The cake shop encounter clip was tweeted by the Republican National Committee and soon raised concerns.
“A MEME comes to life,” Twitchy called the clip.
Others suggested the exchange showed that Biden may be in spiritual decline.
Trump-era director of the National Intelligence Service Richard Grenell tweeted, “Americans are appalled by these weekly videos that highlight Biden’s state of mind. DC reporters ignore these moments – but we’ll see. And we see [the media] Protect Biden. “
“A grocery store employee challenged Biden more than the WH Press Corps would ever do,” added Twitchy writer Doug Powers.
Friday’s mass cyber attack – which cybersecurity firm Huntress Labs blamed for the Russia-affiliated REvil ransomware gang – hit at least 200 companies at the start of Independence Day weekend.
Biden was on a tour in Michigan to mark the end of pandemic restrictions – and to publicize his government’s spending-free economic plans.
It is nowhere near the first time Biden’s mental acuity has been challenged – and the president recently raised it himself without being asked.
In a speech from Wisconsin last Tuesday, the president admitted questions about his mental acuity and said he was wrongly accused of mentally losing him.
And critics have often noticed where Biden appears confused or seems to lose his train of thought.
For example, Biden said last month that COVID-19 killed more Americans than all of the wars of the last century combined – including the U.S. war in Iran, which never happened.
He also attacked reporters last year when they asked him about Trump’s derision of taking a cognitive test.
Last month, more than a dozen members of the Republican House – led by former White House Doctor Ronny Jackson, who now represents Texas – asked Biden to take a cognitive test and publish the results “so that the American people can get the full.” President knows his person’s spiritual and intellectual health. “
“The American people should have absolute confidence in their president,” the letter to Biden said in part.
“You deserve to know that he or she can perform the duties of Head of State and Commander-in-Chief. They deserve full transparency about the mental faculties of their highest elected leader. “
