Biden administration officials noted stamina issues in presidential first months in office: report

Members of President Biden’s staff noticed his stamina and increasing confusion in the first months of his term, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal based its report on interviews with nearly 50 people, including current and former White House staffers who interacted directly with the president, as well as lawmakers.

A former adviser recalled a national security official explaining why a spring 2021 meeting was canceled altogether.

“He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day, so we’ll deal with it tomorrow,” he recalled the official saying.

Democratic members of Congress reported that Biden was less available than previous presidents. He had few meetings with members of Congress, and those meetings were often brief, they said.

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“The Biden White House has been more isolated than most,” Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., told the Journal. “I spoke to Barack Obama several times when he was president, and I wasn’t even chairman of the committee.”

“I really had no personal contact with this president. I had more personal contact with Obama, which is kind of strange because I was a lot younger,” Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., reiterated.

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Even members of Biden’s own Cabinet soon stopped requesting calls from the president, realizing from conversations with staff that calls were unwanted, WSJ reported.

A source familiar with the Journal’s reporting said the outlet has conducted on-the-record interviews with a number of Cabinet members who have rejected claims that Biden lacks mental acuity. Those Cabinet members included Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and EPA Administrator Michael Regan and others, the source said. The Journal did not include her comments in its report.

President Joe Biden’s age became a central issue in the 2024 election campaign before he dropped out. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Biden held fewer than half as many full Cabinet meetings as his recent predecessors. President-elect Trump held 25 such meetings in his first term and former President Obama held 19, but Biden only held eight.

The White House rejected the contents of the Journal’s report in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying Biden’s policy achievements were “indisputable evidence” of his qualifications and leadership abilities.

“President Biden speaks with members of his Cabinet daily and with most members several times a week and remains in close contact with them about implementing important legislation and strengthening our national security. During any presidency, there are bound to be some in Washington who don’t.” “They get as much time with the president as they want; “But that never means the president doesn’t engage deeply with others, as this president does,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said.

“Cabinet meetings are an important tradition, but the modern working environment means they can happen less and less frequently. As scholars who study the presidency have pointed out, every member of the Cabinet — not to mention the president — are busy directors, and even more can do so on behalf of the American people in one-on-one conversations with the president or in smaller conversations with Officials with relevant departments can be reached,” he added.

Fox News Digital reached out to Cabinet officials and their departments, asking them whether they believed Biden was fit to be in office this week and whether they stood by previous expressions of confidence in his ability to continue.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement in September that he has “full confidence in President Biden’s ability to carry out his job.”

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“As I said, I am fully prepared for my meetings with President Biden, knowing that his questions will be detail-oriented, probing and demanding. In our exchanges, the President always draws on our previous conversations and past events to analyze the issues and reach his conclusions,” he said.

On Monday, DHS said that the secretary stands by these comments.

US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says he stands by claims that Biden was mentally healthy during his time in office. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo called Biden “one of the most successful presidents in American history and continues to lead our country with a steady hand.”

“As someone who is actually in the room when the president meets with the Cabinet and foreign leaders, I can tell you that he is an incisive and exceptional leader,” Raimondo said.

A spokesman said this week that Raimondo stands by those comments.

Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon The press secretary told Fox in September: “As Secretary Austin has said, he has watched President Biden make difficult national security decisions and seen his commitment to the safety of our troops – he has nothing but complete confidence in our commander in chief.”

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This week, Singh said those comments still stand.