Yesterday, we witnessed another example of KJP having to rush to the defense of Joe Biden's mental acuity after a reporter asked why the President always relied on note cards when delivering remarks. She bristled at the remark and launched into the standard defense of Biden, talking about what a success his presidency has been and how he "delivers" for the American people. He's "done more in three years than most presidents do in two terms." You know the drill. But the timing of that defense was particularly awkward. Only a few hours later, Biden read from another set of note cards, but when reporters attempted to work in some questions, Biden once again drifted off, blankly staring ahead before mumbling about how he'd better not take any questions or he would "get into trouble." (NY Post)

A confused-looking President Biden once again admitted he’d get in “trouble” for taking questions at a press briefing Tuesday — just hours after his press secretary staunchly defended his mental acuity.

The 81-year-old commander in chief started uttering the familiar, yet bewildering, refrain before he even lifted the microphone off the table at the launch of a task force aimed at lowering costs for American families.

“I have a lot of questions. I better not start the questions. I’ll get in trouble,” Biden mumbled, garnering a few laughs from the audience.

You can watch the awkward moment here on Twitter. And keep in mind that the comment, "This man is not well" is coming from a former Democratic campaign advisor to Hillary Clinton.

Oh my Lord. This man is not well. pic.twitter.com/5UoEW90FD6

— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) March 6, 2024

This stopped being humorous a long time ago. You don't need to be a doctor to realize that the blank stare on the President's face and the slightly slack-jawed silence that accompanies it suggest that he has mentally checked out of the event. He glances to the side with a confused look on his face, possibly looking for a friendly face that he can recognize who might bail him out of the situation.

And then there's that line of his again. "I better not start the questions. I’ll get in trouble." He tries to deliver it as a joke but he says this far too often for us to ignore. Get in trouble with who? Doctor Jill? His shadowy group of handlers who are in all likelihood actually running the country these days? Who would be taking the supposed leader of the free world to task over answering questions from the press? That's a question that Americans deserve an answer to. This guy is supposedly making decisions on a daily basis that could either keep us out of or drag us into a global war. 

The Post reminds us that this is hardly the first time Biden has said that. The first recorded instance of him using the "get into trouble" line during his presidency was back in 2021. He said it after then-Press Secretary (and now cable news host) Jen Psaki admitted that she didn't like Joe Biden having "too much face time" with the press corps. He delivered the line noticeably better back then and it may have been intended as a joke. But over the course of the ensuing two years, it's happened over and over, with Biden seeming to use it as a crutch. The problem is that he no longer seems able to deliver it in a way that would convince anyone.

A couple of months after the incident with Psaki, he used a variation of the line when briefly speaking to reporters. That instance may offer a clue as to what it really means. On that occasion, he said that he would, “get in trouble with staff if I don’t do this the right way.” Which "staff" are we talking about here? We can probably assume that he meant his own White House staff. But - again - since when is the staff giving directions to the Commander-in-Chief and how are they enforcing their supervision of him? None of this is comforting to see. Joe Biden is clearly in a worse state of cognitive decline than he was just three years ago and that process appears to be accelerating. This is not a good situation and it's not a joke.