Whether due to his advanced age, his declining physical and mental health, or some combination thereof, President Joe Biden has increasingly exhibited difficulties with the seemingly simple task of making his way off stage following a speech.
The latest example occurred on July 4 when Biden appeared to get lost on stage -- and even appeared to joke about it -- following his remarks at the White House Independence Day Celebration event, according to the Daily Wire.
During that White House event on Tuesday, about an hour before the annual fireworks display began, President Biden and first lady Jill Biden took to the stage set up on the South Lawn and delivered remarks to the crowd in attendance, after which the first lady introduced hip-hop artist Ne-Yo, the first of several musical performers who were booked to entertain the audience.
Biden began to move toward the stage exit to the right but then paused and turned back to the left, with his back to audience, and after an awkward few seconds asked in reference to the rapper, "Where is he? I don’t know, man. I want to say hi to him."
He then finally began to amble toward the stage exit and muttered, "You trying to get me off the stage? You’re afraid I’m going to try to sing, aren’t you?" and then added -- again, largely facing away from the audience -- "Thanks a lot, guys. Appreciate it."
WATCH: Biden celebrates the 4th of July by getting lost on stage, asking for instructions from his handlers...
"They're trying to get me off the stage!" pic.twitter.com/RO3OPx8hQV
— The First (@TheFirstonTV) July 5, 2023
Were this some sort of one-off instance it could be dismissed with a chuckle as no big deal, but it is, in fact, a recurring incident with increasing frequency that has become a cause of concern for some Americans, whether that concern is focused on the health and well-being of the president himself or the image that his bumbling and stumbling presents to the rest of the world and what it says about this nation and its leaders.
It was less than a week ago that President Biden, at the conclusion of a live MSNBC interview, committed a rather significant live TV faux pas in that he got up from his chair and walked behind the host to exit the set while the cameras were still rolling and the program was still being broadcasted -- when typically an interviewee will wait until a program cuts to a commercial break before moving.
Just a few weeks prior to that, Fox News pointed out how Biden seemed unable to find his way off the stage at a Pride event at the White House, leading to jokes about how he should be tethered with a rope to follow to find his way back to his handlers.
That Fox News segment also included a clip in which Biden needed to be guided off stage by a handler after lingering too long following a speech at the U.S. Army base formerly known as Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Those are just a few of President Biden's more recent episodes of appearing to get lost on stage, but there are plenty more examples from last year, including one in October 2022 that was reported on by Newsweek following a campaign event in support of then-candidate -- and barely functioning stroke victim -- John Fetterman, now a Democratic senator from Pennsylvania.
Conservative talk radio host Clay Travis shared a video clip of the clearly confused moment and pondered, "How is it possible that Joe Biden never knows how to leave the stage? Every speech. He’s always lost if there isn’t someone to immediately grab his elbow and lead him."
Less than a week prior to that, in mid-October 2022, Biden once again struggled with figuring out how and when to exit the stage following a speech he delivered at an event sponsored by The Global Fund, and just a couple of weeks before that, during a late-September 2022 visit to FEMA headquarters in Washington D.C., the president wandered off in the wrong direction away from Cabinet members after concluding his remarks.
To be sure, Biden's defenders will brush aside these recurring instances as nothing for anybody to worry about, but considering that a majority of Americans now firmly believe that Biden is too old and lacks the physical and mental health to continue serving as president, the dismissive explanations of the president's defenders are increasingly unconvincing.
