At a time when Democrats are alarmed about Biden’s potential candidacy for 2024, it’s important to recall a brutal medical diagnosis Ben Carson proffered of Joe Biden‘s from-the-basement 2020 campaign.
This exchange is but part of an extensive discussion that Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and previous President Donald Trump’s only secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, had with reporter Lisa Boothe and was included in a review of the media’s coverage of Biden.
“Is Joe Biden fully with it?” Boothe asked.
“I don’t think he’s at the top of his game,” Carson replied before he employed a bit of hyperbole as he criticized Biden’s stay-at-home campaign.
“And I just think it was criminal the way he joined the election process, that he was stashed away in the basement. People should have been highly suspicious at that point,” Carson said. “Why are they trying to keep this guy away from people? But again, part of that was the media heralding how great he was and [his presidency] was going to be the salvation of the world. And they just push that narrative so hard.”
Throughout the 2020 campaign, Trump and his allies implicated Biden in “hiding” out in his basement to prevent interviews and live campaign events. Biden refuted the assertion that he was “hiding,” informing ABC in May 2020 that he was following health assistance for the coronavirus pandemic which he prepared to return out on the campaign trail.
The interview with Carson, performed for The Truth with Lisa Boothe podcast, was released June 13th, two days after a New York Times report that analyzed “whispers” amongst Democrats who are progressively distressed about Biden’s management ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, in which Republicans are extensively anticipated to recover control of a minimum of one chamber of Congress.
Biden’s critics frequently raise questions about his physical energy and psychological skill, stimulated by regular gaffes that assistants typically then swoop in to cover for. Previous Obama consultant David Axelrod argued in the report that the age factor had actually been a diversion from Biden’s achievements.
“The presidency is a monstrously taxing job, and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue,” Axelrod said.
Biden, who is 79, is the oldest man ever to be president. Biden was older when he took the oath of office than Ronald Reagan, the second-oldest sitting president ever when he retired at 77. Biden would be 82 for a second inauguration. If he is in excellent health, Biden stated in December that he would run for reelection.
Carson decried a”complete lack of leadership and incompetency” and expressed his hope that “we’re strong enough to survive it, but everybody’s going to have to do their part.”