President Joe Biden's performance at the G7 summit in England has done little to allay concerns about his mental competence, to say the least. The 78-year-old president has bumbled his way through the summit, embarrassing the United States in the process and raising questions about his capacity to lead.
In one video clip making the rounds, Biden appeared disoriented as he wandered into an outdoor seating area. His patient wife, Dr. Jill Biden (EdD), ultimately came to his rescue and led him away.
Over the weekend, Biden embarrassed himself during a photo op with other world leaders by urging the summit's host, British prime minister Boris Johnson, to introduce President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa. Video from the event clearly showed Johnson introducing Ramaphosa before Biden interjected.
"And the president of South Africa," Biden said after Johnson finished introducing the leaders.
"And the president of South Africa, as I said earlier on," Johnson replied.
"Oh, you did. I'm sorry," a bewildered Biden told the host, embarrassing his country on the world stage.
Biden's relationship with Johnson was already strained after the president gifted the prime minister a $6,000 bicycle, which could be construed as an insult in the United Kingdom. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, telling someone to get "on your bike" is "a rude way of telling someone to go away."
The gift was also an insult to the millions of Americans who rightly view cyclists as a menace to society.
Further questions were raised about the president's mental fitness when Biden snapped at a reporter during a media availability. Asked a simple question about his administration's decision to keep some Trump-era tariffs and sanctions in place, the president leaned over and grumbled into the mic.
"A hundred and twenty days. Give me a break. Need time," Biden growled before shuffling off the stage.
Biden's embarrassing display continued when he repeatedly mixed up the countries of Syria, in the Middle East, and Libya, in North Africa.
"We could work together with Russia, for example, in Libya," Biden said during an address to summit attendees. "We should be opening up the passes to be able to go through and provide food assistance and economic—I mean, vital assistance to a population that's in real trouble."
As the White House later confirmed, Biden was actually talking about Syria, where Russia has helped the ruthless regime of President Bashar al-Assad cling to power since the outbreak of civil war in 2011. Biden went on to confuse the two countries a couple more times during his address.
Biden was not the only prominent American official to embarrass his country abroad. Vice President Kamala Harris was criticized from all sides for bumbling her way through a recent trip to Mexico and Guatemala. Even some Democrats were perplexed by the VP's inability to answer simples questions about her plans to visit the U.S. border with Mexico.
Celebrity journalist Abby Phillip of CNN described Harris's performance as "cringeworthy" and noted that "her allies in the White House and elsewhere are watching it and just kind of wondering, 'What is going on?'"
Harris's failure to suddenly evolve into a better politician than the one who failed to get a single vote in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary is even more alarming given the precarious status of Biden's cognitive health.
It's also very embarrassing for America.