Who’s more mental — Biden or Trump?

February 28, 2024 40 Comments

A friend of mine — at least I think she’s a friend — asks me why I don’t opine on Joe Biden’s age (because I am a year older than Biden, and that might give me unique insight into the, um, aging issue).

President Joe Biden (left), former President Donald J. Trump (Photo: The New York Times)

I do. First, it’s not the aging issue.

It’s the mental issue.

I am a year older than Biden, I am almost 5 years older than Donald J. Trump, and two weeks younger than Bernie Sanders.

Sanders, Trump, and I were all born in New York City — Bernie in Brooklyn, Donald in Queens, me in The Bronx. That is immaterial, just a fun fact. Joe was born in Scranton, Pa.

Ronald Reagan left the presidency when he was 77 — 4 years younger than Biden is today. After his presidency, we learned from his son Ron, Jr., that his father began suffering from Alzheimer’s disease while in office. (That claim was disputed by another son, Michael, plus a biographer.)  

The Guardian reported, “Their father’s mannerisms while in office – including stumbling over his words, his occasional falling asleep in public, his weak memory – led to much speculation about how early on dementia had set in.”

Some of that sounds familiar.

On the Biden “pro” side, most of us believe old age brings wisdom. That’s a benefit of experience.

On the Biden “con” side, he repeatedly confuses names, wanders when off-PrompTer, and can’t seem to walk up the ramp to Air Force One even when he is walking slowly and holding the handrail. 

He walks stiff-leggedly, and has trouble with arm movement.

Me, too, on all counts. But does that reflect on intellect?

Let’s take the physical stuff first.

Trouble walking?

Franklin D. Roosevelt couldn’t walk at all. 

He was in a wheelchair, as is Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth. You may not like their politics, but their physical disability doesn’t affect their ability to reason, and act.

I walk with a cane, the result of two failed surgeries to correct a busted quadriceps. Even before that, my walking pace had begun to slow down, and my knees don’t function well when I have to pick up something I dropped. Thanks to rotor cuff problems, I can no longer throw a ball for any distance. The body breaks down over time. So does the mind, but faster for some than others.

Trump moves pretty well, plays golf, but he is overweight. Biden is trim and rides a bike, which is easier than golf.

Sanders moves pretty well and is the most articulate and verbally smooth of the three. His brain synapses are firing like Formula One spark plugs.

Sanders gives the appearance of being razor sharp and appearances count.

They count against Biden.

Now — mental issues.

As I was talking to my friend, I wanted to make a point about police states, about how comfortable I felt walking around (fill in the blank).

I blanked on the name of the country, but I could tell my friend it was next to Algeria, right across from Spain.

“Morocco?” she said.

“Yes, and I was in the capital — it has five letters,” I told her, unable to fish up the name from memory — “and I felt fine walking around at night.” I then told her, in some depth, about my experiences there and eventually the name of the capital, Rabat, popped into my mind.

My memory failed on two specifics, but functioned perfectly well on the depth of my experience.

The loss of particular words began when I was in my 40s. The memory failure was rare — my memory was never excellent — but happened more frequently as I aged. I was once an excellent speller, an instinctive speller, but now I actually have to think as I write, is it gaurentee or guarantee? (It is the latter.)

But do those gaps impede my ability to reason?

Some who read my columns would say “Yes,” when they disagree with my opinions. But, really, most would say I move from point A to point B to point C smoothly, and my conclusions are logical, even if disagreeable.

What worries me about Biden is not that he can’t remember a quote from Lincoln. What worries me is he can’t read it off a 3×5 card in his hand.

We all know he is, and always has been, subject to gaffes. He’s also subject to a form of malapropism, in which he confuses names, rather than words. He has done that repeatedly, but how serious is it?

I don’t know, but his refusal to take advantage of the year’s largest TV audience with a Super Bowl interview is very troubling.

In recent months, Trump has been caught mixing up names, most notably using Nancy Pelosi when he meant Nikki Haley. Not just once, but several times.

The centrist The Hill website actually claims that in recent counts, Trump has more gaffes than Biden, and summarizes them here.

The Hill distinguishes these gaffes from the incredible amount of bald face lying Trump does, most especially his claims that he won the 2020 election, when anyone with half a brain knows he did not. 

If you believe it was rigged — you are a dupe. As Trump’s hand-picked Attorney General Bill Barr stated flatly, “We have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”

In 2016, remember, candidate Trump whined that the election was rigged — until he was declared the winner.

There is little doubt that Biden’s failings are more obvious, and more serious, in that he is the President of the United States, and not a former TV reality show host facing 91 felony counts.

Each candidate is impaired. With Biden, it might be more mental.

With Trump, it is more moral.

In his lucid moments, Biden cares about facts. Most of his decisions — not all — are reasonable.

Some of Trump’s positions — by no means all — are reasonable, but they often are transactional. He praises foreign despots — Putin, Kim, Xi — because they “like” him, he says. The deluded, needy fool thinks they “like” him.

This time, I throw in with bumbling, “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” in the words of special counsel Robert Hur.

That was intended as a slur, but I will choose Biden over a bullying, narcissistic, convicted sexual abuser and liar, as proven by his defamation conviction.

40 thoughts on “Who’s more mental — Biden or Trump?”

  2. I like the point-counterpoint you use in reaching your conclusion. What deeply troubles me (read: scares the shiznitz out of me) is that we have to choose between these two sick men (one morally and one mentally) for the presidency — the most powerful office in the world. Biden is not getting smarter each day, and if/when he dies in office we’ll have a silly, inexperienced woman to run things. WTF! Is this the best our nation can come up with? Deciding which of the two addled contestants should run our lives?

    1. As you know, I did not vote for either last time. This time is different. Trump is unfit by intellect and temperament to be President. He got fired once. I am willing to risk a Harris presidency. At least that will get the monkey off our back, per a female President,

          1. I sure hope you vote this year. I think Biden will need every vote he can get. The Supreme Court has just ensured that Trump’s trial won’t end before the election. They will diddle with his case for long enough to make sure of it. Personally, I think the MAGA nutcases should follow Trump to Jonestown and drink the Kool Aid.

        2. Stu… You don’t vote for a very bad candidate, much younger than Biden or Trump, to get the monkey off your back. Not to elect the first woman President. Your write up slammed Trump for things he did and not a bad word about Biden.Your response was slanted.

          1. You understand this is an advocacy column? In the past, I have attacked Biden policies, most notably the border, and forgiving student loans. You are free to list his failures.

  3. Anyone who would vote for Biden is proven they are mentally unfit. Are you that brain dead that you can’t see how he has hurt the country. The woke and progressive movement is running this country. Biden is their puppet. I don’t understand you . You praise Trump for his many accomplishments yet you will vote for Biden. In 2020 you had enough sense not to vote for him and now that he has completely lost his mind you will vote for him. Talk about loons.

  4. Please recall Obama’s warning about Biden, his own VP, “Never underestimate Biden’s ability to screw up everything.” Biden has screwed up everything. Wrong all the time; weakening the USA and endangering our allies.

    It is not his age nor mental state.

    It is who he is: common as a sidewalk, creepy, boring, dimwitted, a well known and chronic liar and dumb as a post. Always has been, at any age. We saw it every year he was a Senator, too.

      1. I could refute all of his so called accomplishments but I don’t have the time. I do know that when you give away or get discounted prices because of government policies someone has to pay. My Medicare part D more than doubled this year I wonder why. I guess I’m paying for these freebies and discounts.

      2. Stu,
        I did look at the WH’s list of Biden accomplishments.
        Do not agree that the list is of beneficial and productive accomplishments; most are the sort the Workers Family Party might praise: policies sure to backfire on those most in need and guaranteed to weaken the USA.
        Thanks for you comment, and thanks for your actually beneficial and productive blog
        GAC

          1. Under Biden, we have the world’s best economy. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it and keep on drinking Trump’s Honest Kool-Aid

  5. So barring anything unforeseen, come November we’re left choosing between a well meaning old man whose mental acuity is not quite as sharp as it was, or a old guy lacking scruples and morality his entire life. Sad that I’m the country of 330 million+ people, these are the best two we can come up with.

  7. So Trump lies-I’ve heard that somewhere before,but why does B iden who can match him lie for lie get a free pass?His story about his first wife getting killed by a drunk driver is an absolute evil lie that traumatized the innocent truck driver to his death.He is not the kindly old man he is made out to be.

      1. The borders are secure. Can’t tell a bigger lie than that. How about bidenenomics is working and the economy is great. He forgets about high inflation and high interest rates. How about I never talked to my son or brother about their business. And on and on.

  8. Trump put the American people first. Everyone was doing better. With Biden he puts everyone in the world ahead of us and we suffer. We are financing 2 wars that should have never happened. He has opened are borders which will haunt us for years to come. What do you Biden lovers like about him. Electing him will be the final nail in the coffin of this once great country.

    1. Wrong again. Trump is a xenophobic racist who puts himself first and America second. He is unfit for high office. Keep on drinking Trump’s Jonestown Kool-Aid

    1. Putin ran all over Obama and Biden. He did nothing under Trump. I think you got your PHD in a crackerjack box.

      1. Because Trump was his useful idiot and did what he was told. Even my grandkids have that figured out. And I just LOVE the way you people deflect and ignore inconvenient information. That worked for the Germans pre WW II really well.

  10. We had peace and prosperity under Trump. I wish we had that now. Anyone with a sense of fairness and common sense knows Trump had a successful presidency but people like you are so miserable and hateful you would rather see the country destroyed than give him credit.

    1. Deflection and pronouncements from Fox propaganda talking points. You are so deluded that it is a waste of time engaging with you.

      1. The ‘rescue plan’ consisted of sending everyone a large check, with no funds to back the paper. Some ‘rescue.’ Just more inflation.

        1. Usually I oppose free money. I didn’t get any. Neither did you. Thank God for that, but that free money kept millions of families out of the poorhouse.
          Kind of like when USA rescued Chrysler. And the banks.

  12. Look, I can’t disagree with being disillusioned with the choices we apparently have for November 2024. I’ve been a democrat, and as that party has become unrecognizable to me, I went republican. My next step may be independent. That said, the personalities and morals of each man are questionable. It is important however to disengage yourself from the personality aspect of it, and seriously consider policies that are best for America. Biden in my opinion, has ruled vindictively, and I feel he is more committed to intentionally pissing-off conservatives and the MAGA nation more than doing what is right for our country. One could debate the pros and cons of the Biden regime until the end of time, but life was better, undeniably, during Trump’s term. Hard-core liberals will refuse to accept that fact, but that’s fine. I would expect nothing less. In November, I will vote – not for the personalities of the individuals running, but for policies that are built on logic and common sense. Policies that put America first.

  13. Valuable information, and so personal. Thank you for sharing.

    But Trump’s hand-picked (second) attorney general was William Barr. Bob Barr is the former Georgia congressman.

  14. Hi Stu—I enjoyed & agree with your “Who’s more mental” post—-your mental capability appears to me to be 100%—–for me, I am very grateful that we are now living in the world of “spell-check”—I am now on-board, & look forward to many more post from you—-Thanks

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