LILLEY: Biden’s debate performance shows he can’t stay in office

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The scariest realization watching Thursday night’s debate wasn’t how badly Joe Biden was losing to Donald Trump. It’s that Biden is still president.

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For anyone watching, Biden’s reduced mental state was on clear display for all as he lost track of his thoughts, wandered off and couldn’t finish sentences.

This isn’t a joking matter any longer and it’s not a partisan shot at the man. This is a serious matter for the United States and all of her allies.

The President of the United States of America remains the leader of the free world. That may seem like an antiquated term from the Cold War, but it’s just as important now as ever. We live in a time when authoritarian regimes such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are flexing their muscles. It’s a time when Iranian proxies such as the Houthis in Yemen are threatening international shipping lanes and make direct attacks on American interests.

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The free world needs a leader who is not suffering from cognitive decline, which Biden clearly is.

The White House and those around Biden have been trying to assure the American public for months that there is nothing wrong with the president. Thursday night’s debate not only proved there are problems, it also showed that Biden’s decline may be accelerating.

This isn’t a question of age or ageism — it’s matter of not ignoring that the U.S. president has medical or mental health issues that must be treated. To ignore that plain fact, to continue to run him as the candidate for the Democratic Party, is nothing short of abuse.

Shortly after the start of the debate, Biden was asked to respond to a question originally put to Trump about America’s debt and deficits. His answer started off discussing the need to have America’s wealthy pay more, but he confused billionaires and trillionaires, he confused the tax rate he wanted to institute and how much it would raise.

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Then things got worse.

“We’d be able to wipe out his debt, we’d be able to do all those things we need to do, child care, elder care, making sure that we continue to support and strengthen our healthcare system. Making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the uh … with the COVID, excuse me … with um … dealing with everything we have to do with … look, we finally beat Medicare,” Biden said.

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It wasn’t the only time Biden lost his ability to finish his sentence or train of thought. About 10 minutes later — and this is all in the first half-hour of the debate — Biden trailed off and couldn’t coherently finish his sentence when answering about immigration.

“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence, I don’t think he knows what he said either,” Trump replied.

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That’s the real issue here, does Biden know what he is saying? Does he have the mental abilities to stay in this job until January, never mind be re-elected for another four years?

Trump opponents will say but he lied all night, he has no morals, he’s corrupt. All of that misses the point: Biden appears unfit for the job he currently has and should step down, immediately. The dictators in Beijing, Moscow, Tehran and elsewhere are looking at Biden and relishing the idea of him staying in power because it will mean a slower and less responsive America, just like her president.

The Democrats should have swapped out Biden for an electable candidate last summer or fall. He should have announced that he had done his best and was passing the baton, but they didn’t do that.

Without a major change, if Biden faces Trump in November, then Trump will win in a landslide.

Biden needs to be dropped from the Democratic ticket. More importantly, he needs to step down as president.

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