The American people have watched with dismay as President Joe Biden's cognitive capabilities have noticeably declined over the past few years -- a grim reality that some Democrats and media figures only recently began to acknowledge after he embarrassed himself in the late June presidential debate.

Thus, it should be no surprise that many Americans believed a recent viral video was further evidence of Biden's diminished mental health, as it appeared to show him mistakenly boarding an aircraft that was not Air Force One, according to a Mediaite report.

As it turned out, the elderly president purposely entered the non-presidential jet to greet the crew and staff that delivered home three Americans released from Russian captivity as part of a multi-nation prisoner swap -- though that explanation will do little to reassure those who've grown increasingly concerned with Biden's worsening condition.

Did Biden mistakenly board the wrong plane?

Last week, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Joint Base Andrews to welcome the arrival of a private jet carrying three Americans who'd just been released from Russian custody as part of a major prisoner swap involving several nations.

Those three Americans -- retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva -- exited the plane and received warm greetings from Biden and Harris before reuniting with their families.

Then, as Harris and Secret Service agents looked on, Biden boarded the small jet from which the former prisoners had just debarked and reemerged just a moment later, which prompted some to speculate that the elderly and cognitively challenged president suffered a moment of confusion and mistakenly thought he was boarding the Air Force One presidential jet.

Joe Biden climbed back up the stairs of an airplane that had just arrived and he wasn’t flying on, as Kamala watched in amazement

I mean, he legitimately has no idea where he is or what he’s doing
pic.twitter.com/g5dBZ0CqXo

— Ian Miller (@ianmSC) August 2, 2024

Biden was greeting crew members

According to Mediaite, however, citing a White House spokesperson and a pool reporter who observed the incident in person, President Biden was not confused and deliberately entered the small plane to briefly express his gratitude to the crew and staff who'd accompanied the released Americans home.

"President Biden wanted to personally thank the flight crew who brought these brave individuals home to their families," White House spokesman Andrew Bates said.

Likewise, White House pool reporter Andrew Feinberg recalled that photos revealed that at least 10 people were on the plane and only three had come out before Biden carefully ascended the steep steps into the jet.

Feinberg explained, "I was under the wing with the press pool and it was obvious to me that POTUS was boarding to speak to the people who had helped to bring these three Americans home -- the pilots and seven other passengers plus whoever took the photo -- because they had remained on board while the three former prisoners enjoyed their first moments back on US soil with their loved ones."

Most Americans have doubts about Biden's mental state

However, the logical explanation for this incident does little to change the public's majority opinion about President Biden's worsening cognitive health and capabilities.

In a late-June poll conducted after his disastrous debate performance, CBS News reported that 72% of registered voters, up from 65% in early June, believed that Biden lacked the mental and cognitive health to serve as president -- a number that included 41% of Democrats, up from just 29% who'd had such doubts in the previous poll.

Similarly, a mid-July poll by AP-NORC found that 70% of U.S. adults were "not very" or "not at all" confident that Biden has the necessary mental capacity to serve as president effectively, with just 14% saying they were "extremely/very" confident and 15% who said they were "somewhat" confident in his cognitive abilities.