"How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge," WSJ Reports Aides Hid President's Decline

Dec 20, 2024, 02:23 AM

According to an investigative report by the Wall Street Journal titled "How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge," White House aides concealed President Joe Biden's mental decline from the beginning of his presidency. Aides managed Biden's limitations by controlling access, scripting public interactions, and having top advisers act as go-betweens, not only with the public but also with cabinet members and key Democrats on Capitol Hill. The report claims that meetings were kept short, and some were canceled or rescheduled due to Biden having "good days and bad days." On one occasion in spring 2021, a national security official postponed a meeting, saying, "today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow." To address his fading voice, aides enlisted Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg to find a vocal coach for the president. The administration denied that Biden had declined, but the report suggests that aides took unprecedented steps to manage his schedule and interactions to accommodate his diminishing mental and physical capabilities.