First lady appears to take lead role during visit to Maui, guides President Biden around by hand
It has become abundantly clear to a majority of Americans that President Joe Biden, at 80 years of age, the oldest president ever in U.S. history, is increasingly showing signs of diminished physical and mental health.
That was plainly evident during his brief visit to Maui on Monday to survey the death and destruction caused by wildfires, when the president was repeatedly led around and guided on where to go by first lady Jill Biden, according to Rare.
On at least three occasions caught on video and subsequently shared on social media, the first lady was seen taking the lead or even guiding the president by the hand during the visit, while leaving the scorched Hawaiian island, and upon their return to a week-long vacation in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
Looking lost in Maui
The first instance occurred at the end of a brief press conference in front of charred rubble in Maui when a lost-looking and slack-jawed President Biden lingered behind the podium until he was prodded to move by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), who asked the president if he wanted to take a sip from a bottle of water before moving on.
Biden completely ignored the senator and instead followed along behind the first lady, who had also prompted him to go but then turned and waited for him to catch up after taking a few steps.
"You wanna grab that water for a sip?" Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz asks Biden before guiding him away from the podium pic.twitter.com/kfUsdldQ5T
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 21, 2023
Guided back to his vacation
A few hours later, after arriving back at the airport in the Marine One helicopter, a still somewhat confused-looking President Biden was led by the hand toward the steps that head up into Air Force One, and proceeded to guide him up the stairs as he held onto his cap amid whipping wind gusts -- which have been blamed in the past by the White House for Biden tripping and falling on the Air Force One steps.
Biden completes his fly-by in Maui and heads back to Lake Tahoe for more vacation pic.twitter.com/ikbNX86DL4
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 22, 2023
That flight took the president and first lady back to Nevada, rather than Washington D.C., and the first couple arrived in Lake Tahoe just a few hours after leaving Maui in order to resume their week-long family vacation at a luxurious waterfront mansion owned by billionaire climate activist and investor Tom Steyer.
Joe and Jill were not holding hands but were side-by-side as they descended the steps from Air Force One and walked toward a waiting SUV that, as part of the presidential motorcade, would transport them back to the exclusive lakeside estate they were staying at for the week.
Biden took no questions after arriving back in Lake Tahoe last night to resume his vacation.
Today is Biden's 376th day on vacation since taking office — 39.8% of his presidency. pic.twitter.com/5MLI50J0Fc
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 22, 2023
Majority of Americans, including nearly half of all Democrats, are concerned about Biden's physical and mental health
In June, NBC News reported on the results of a poll that showed that roughly two-thirds of the American people harbored concerns about the physical and mental health and well-being of President Biden.
In fact, 68 percent of voters expressed some measure of concern with regard to whether the elderly president had sufficient physical and mental health to do the job he was elected to do, which included 55 percent who said they had "major" concerns about Biden's health.
That is a sharp increase from October 2020, when just 51 percent overall expressed concerns, including 38 percent with "major" concerns. Nor was it just Republicans and independents, either, as the number of Democrats who admitted some level of concern about Biden's deteriorating health had more than doubled from 21 percent in 2020 to 43 percent in 2023.