By the time you read this, President Biden may already have announced his withdrawal from the 2024 campaign. If not, I believe he should, because what we all witnessed at the debate with former president Donald Trump on June 27 was an indicator of serious neurological disease.
Remember, President Biden lost his bearings in the discussion and couldn’t put together a basic sentence as he rambled on. That is not a part of normal aging. It was not just a “bad debate.” It is significant cognitive impairment that doesn’t result from modest sleep deprivation but which may be uncovered by such physical stressors.
Urgent Neurological Evaluation Indicated
If Biden were my patient, and this was an unheralded event, I would have arranged an urgent brain MRI to look for signs of stroke, abnormal fluid, tumor or infection., together with blood tests for metabolic, nutritional or vitamin disorders. And a good neurologist to do detailed consultation ASAP, which would include extensive mental status and cognitive function testing and consideration of multiple degenerative diseases including Parkinsonism.
We would hope to find something to mitigate his cognitive impairment, but statistically he is more likely to have an underlying degenerative condition that will worsen over a relatively small number of years.
Realistic Public Discussion Essential
I personally believe that Biden’s observed episode of severe cognitive impairment should require his withdrawal from the race. Senior Democrats and the party may decide otherwise, but they cannot be allowed to deny that his impaired cognition is destined to worsen substantially during a second term.