A recent New York Post article forced this physician-author to face facts. Our president meets all the medical criteria for a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Not being a psychiatrist, I reviewed recent information on this dreaded disease. I also had personal experience as my British mother (I had two, biologic was American) demonstrated Alzheimer’s for her final three years before she died at age 95.
While signs have been present for years, when presidential aides described their fear of Joe Biden’s “hair-trigger temper” because any little thing could “set him off,” the diagnosis is no longer in doubt. One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s is sudden, inappropriate anger with any change in normal routine (#7 below).
Following are common signs of Alzheimer’s.
1. Memory loss, especially short-term
How many times has Biden asked someone to repeat a question, even when the questions are pre-scripted, and he has a teleprompter? Losing his train of thought when speaking is a common occurrence, as recent as this year’s Fourth of July speech.
In nearly four years, how many times has Biden held an impromptu, unscripted press conference where the questions were not pre-screened and without a teleprompter to assist him? Answer: Zero. The contrast with Trump is stark.
2. Challenges in problem-solving
Virtually every Biden policy decision — foreign and domestic — has been publicly reversed or clearly wrong at the outset. The disastrous pullout from Afghanistan is an obvious example. The U.S. is supplying arms to Israel, but maybe not, then, of course we will, but possibly later. Biden’s executive orders turned the U.S. from a net exporter of oil into his raiding the strategic oil reserve to drive down the price of gas. His profligate spending fueled inflation.
3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks