Joe Biden Hands His First Cabinet Meeting in Nearly a Year Over to Jill
In a recent cabinet meeting led by President Joe Biden, critics highlighted concerns regarding his cognitive function and energy levels. Although the meeting aimed to encourage his team to accelerate their efforts to implement his agenda before the presidential transition, Biden’s performance raised questions about his ability to effectively lead. Notably, this was Biden’s first cabinet meeting in almost a year, and many observers noted his apparent fatigue.
During the meeting, Biden struggled to articulate his thoughts, leading to First Lady Jill Biden stepping in to take charge of discussions regarding women’s health initiatives. This departure from traditional roles, with Jill Biden taking a more active role than past First Ladies in cabinet discussions, raised further concerns about Biden’s perceived effectiveness as president. Critics argue that this dynamic contributes to the perception of Biden being an ineffective leader who is not fit to remain in office, particularly as he has chosen not to seek re-election. The overall optics suggested a president struggling to maintain authority and clarity amid increasing scrutiny.
On the one hand, it’s probably a good thing that incumbent President Joe Biden still has enough cognitive function to call a cabinet meeting.
On the other hand, it’s probably a bad thing that the incumbent president apparently doesn’t have enough energy or cognitive function to lead a cabinet meeting discussion.
Critics of Biden were out in droves Friday when video surfaced of the first cabinet meeting that the incumbent has called in nearly a year.
According to CNN, the purpose of this meeting was (or should have been) simple: Biden wanted to urge his team to “sprint to the finish.”
While nobody is accusing the 81-year-old Biden of sprinting anywhere these days, the message in and of itself made some sense.
Biden, perhaps feeling the specter of his predecessor looming, wants to accomplish as much of his agenda as he possibly can before yielding his seat to either former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris — the two toppers of the GOP and Democrat presidential tickets, respectively.
“He will direct his Cabinet to get as much work done as possible — whether that is moving funding out the door, announcing new programs or policies or delivering on programs and policies we have already announced,” one official told CNN.
Again, given that Biden is not seeking re-election, the hastiness of this message makes total sense.
It just would’ve been more impactful if Biden had had the energy to actually deliver the entire message himself.
You can watch the meeting below, and see if you can spot how haggard Biden looks, despite not really being in the public eye anymore:
There was also the matter of Mrs. Biden.
The irritable “Doctor Jill” actually took the reins of the meeting almost as soon as Biden gasped out a welcome.
Joe Biden began the clip by struggling to tell Congress to do their jobs to do his bidding. After a few minutes where it seemed that Biden would fall victim to sudden-onset narcolepsy, the incumbent began discussing women’s health measures — which was apparently a bit too much for the octogenarian.
“Today, at the top of our meeting, Jill is going to, uh, give an update on house initiative… White House initiative to fundamentally change the approach and fund … and uh, how we approach and fund women’s health services,” Biden said.
He then sent it over to Jill by saying, “It’s all yours, kid.”
Jill, with noticeably more vigor than her husband, then spouted off the usual nonsense one would expect from rank leftists about “women’s health care.”
That being said, even CNN couldn’t really ignore the fact that Jill was taking a big role in this cabinet meeting.
The outlet said that this was “the first time she’s participated in a such a session.”
CNN added: “Previous first ladies have attended their husband’s Cabinet meetings.”
Notice the difference in verbiage, of “participated” and “attended.”
Look, there’s little doubt that plenty of first ladies have attended cabinet sessions.
But to take a noticeably vocal role and “participate” in the cabinet discussion?
That’s problematic for Biden for one simple reason: Optics.
Whether or not it’s traditional for a first lady to command a speaking role at a cabinet meeting is almost irrelevant to the bigger point.
Biden is perceived to be an empty husk of a president, shambling around based on wherever his marionette strings take him.
Putting in such a low-energy performance (again, it’s not like Biden is holding these cabinet meetings every other week … It’s been almost a year) before having your wife put in a comparatively electric performance is not going to quiet the calls that Biden is a puppet, lame-duck president who is currently unfit to remain in office.
It also can’t be overstated that not a single soul cast a vote for Jill Biden, nor was she confirmed in any meaningful way. There’s a reason this news outlet keeps “first lady” lower-cased — it’s not an official position.
It’s odd enough that Biden is allergic to the public eye these days, but to have this be one of his first major public appearances in a long time?
To see him show that he has not gained any energy, despite being put in Tupperware, and then having his wife inexplicably placed front and center should tell you everything you need to know about why Biden is no longer seeking re-election.
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