Voters expect Joe Biden to forget where he is on TV debates — and even wander off stage
Half of American voters expect President Biden to once again forget where he is during his crucial upcoming presidential debates — with more than a third expecting him to wander offstage, a shocking new poll shows.
A staggering 70% expect the gaffe-prone 81-year-old to mess up his words during the TV debates — while 40% think the oldest-ever president is so frail, he’ll struggle to even get to his feet, according to the JL Partners poll published Thursday.
Biden’s debate rival, former President Donald Trump, will likely easily win the debate, according to the poll — with an overwhelming 90% of Republicans confident of his victory.
Most worrying, however, 49% expect Biden to forget where he is and 41% think he’ll even walk the wrong way off the debate stage.
Asked what word best sums up their view of the president, those polled overwhelmingly said “Old.”
The results come after Biden awkwardly started to wander off during a skydiving demonstration at the G7 summit in southern Italy on Thursday, with the host nation’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, pressed into action to pull him back toward the group.
As the leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies applauded the evening parachuting presentation, the president’s attention visibly drifted from where the others were looking.
At that point, Meloni walked over to Biden — doing so backwards so she was still facing her fellow leaders — and touched the president’s right arm to let him know it was time to rejoin the group.
White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates defended the president, claiming the clip — which was widely distributed by wire services — was distorted.
“[Biden is] saying congratulations to one of the divers and giving a thumbs up.” Bates said on X.
Biden’s staffers have long confided that the president, who would be 86 if he completed a full second term, has at points lost his focus in private conversations in addition to his very public errors.
The debate will be held in Atlanta and marks the first time Biden and Trump go head to head in the 2024 election campaign.
