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

Biden prepared for the first presidential debate, or more accurately was prepared, for a week isolated at Camp David. Fifty million Americans watched him unable to answer questions or successfully debate despite all that preparation.

Jill Biden gushed, “You did such a great job, Joe,” after a televised debate that was nothing short of a devastating performance. The First Lady sounded like a mother reassuring her five-year-old that he spoke the Pledge of Allegiance correctly (even though he did not).

4. Confusion with time and place

At the June 15, 2024 fundraiser in Los Angeles, Biden appeared to freeze up and had to be led off the stage by Barack Obama. During the June 2024 G7 Summit, he appeared to wander off. We all have seen Jill Biden lead Joe away from a podium because he wasn’t sure where to go, or possibly where he was.

5. Trouble with visual images or spatial relationships

How many times has Biden tripped on stairs, fallen while walking on his red carpet, or had to be propped up by Secret Service agents? How many times has he read his instructions off the teleprompter like, “Pause,” “Speak softly,” or “End of Quote.”

At the G7 Summit, he said goodbye to the Italian PM by saluting, presumably thinking Giorgia Meloni was in the military.

6. New problems with words in speaking or writing

Truthfully, this is not a “new” problem although, “We beat Medicare” at the first presidential debate may be a new low for him. There are innumerable video recordings of the president mumbling, speaking incoherently, or saying nonsensical phrases.

Possibly the most damning and frankly terrifying demonstration of Biden’s Alzheimer’s occurred on the Fourth of July (!) four years ago when he couldn’t recite the opening of the Declaration of Independence. He said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: all men and women [italics mine] are created by the, you know, you know the thing.”

7. Anger or extreme irritability with change in usual routine

As suggested above, the “president’s aides feel they have to walk through a minefield before briefings to avoid him getting angry with them.”

Someone has to say it. We all whisper it. Complicit media deny it while defending or excusing our sick Chief Executive — “over-prepared, a cold, jet lag” — at the cost of their reputations for honesty and truthfulness. However, the diagnosis is now beyond doubt.

Our president has Alzheimer’s. In retrospect, it has been apparent since July 4, 2020.

Deane Waldman, M.D., MBA is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Pathology, and Decision Science; former Director of the Center for Healthcare Policy at Texas Public Policy Foundation; former Director, New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange; and author of the multi-award winning book Curing the Cancer in U.S. Healthcare: StatesCare and Market-Based Medicine.

Image from X.