Biden will stop working after 8pm to avoid making more gaffes
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Joe Biden will stop working after 8pm to avoid getting tired and making more gaffes before the presidential election, he has told allies.
The US president told Democratic governors that he was taking steps to control his schedule, after blaming his disastrous performance in a head-to-head debate with Donald Trump on heavy travel.
The admission came on a call on Wednesday that included Kamala Harris, Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom – all of whom have been touted as possible replacements if he agrees to suspend his campaign.
Mr Biden is facing unprecedented pressure from his own party to reconsider his decision to run for reelection this November, after a stuttering performance on television last Thursday and polls that show he is losing ground against Trump in key swing states.
Experts have begun to call for Mr Biden to undergo independent medical checks, and the White House has denied that he is suffering from Alzheimer’s or another mentally degenerative disease.
The White House has admitted that Mr Biden was examined by his doctor shortly after the debate, reversing earlier comments by his press spokesman.
On Wednesday the White House press secretary, citing his doctor, said he had not had any medical exams since his February physical.
But Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman said on Thursday that he had spoken to his doctor.
“Several days later, the president was seen to check on his cold and was recovering well,” he said.
The conflicting messages from the White House will do little to assuage fears about his aides’ handling of the situation, which has become a major crisis.
Mr Biden has attempted to shrug off concerns about his age by attributing his poor performance in last week’s debate to his travel schedule.
He had visited France, Italy and Los Angeles in the weeks leading up to the debate, but had been at Camp David for a week to recuperate and prepare for the event.
The president told donors after the debate that he “fell asleep on stage” and joked that he should have listened to his team about resting more.
His decision not to work past 8pm comes after a report by Axios, a political news website, that he is only cogent between 10am and 4pm each day.
Although at 81 years old Mr Biden could be expected to move more slowly, some have raised concerns he has a hidden medical condition.
Kevin C O’Connor, the White House physician, said in February the president was “fit for duty” and that tests had turned up no findings which would be consistent with” Parkinson’s disease.
Mr Bates told the New York Times on Thursday that Dr O’Connor had found no reason to re-evaluate Mr Biden for the disease, and that he had not taken Levodopa or other drugs for that condition.
On Thursday, the statistician and writer Nate Silver joined Lawrence K Altman, a clinical professor, in calling for Mr Biden to undergo an “unbiased” assessment of his mental fitness.
Dr Altman at New York University said the public “deserves full reports” from doctors of Mr Biden’s “recent medical examinations”.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Silver said: “Since he wants to be president until he’s 86 years old, and a reasonable person might conclude he’s something other than up for the task, how about we get an unbiased checkup from a mutually agreed-upon independent physician?”
