WASHINGTON — President Biden openly expressed confusion about what he should be doing Thursday at his only scheduled public event of the week — and had to be reminded by an emcee to leave a White House celebration of the Texas Rangers’ World Series win, which he did after saluting the athletes.
Biden, 81, ended his campaign for a second term on July 21 after a mutiny by fellow Democrats concerned about his mental acuity, but he has insisted that he remains capable of serving as president through Jan. 20 — despite his noticeably sparse schedule.
“All right, what am I doing now?” Biden said after wrapping up the event by accepting a personalized jersey and cowboy boots from the baseball team in the White House’s East Room.
A military aide approached Biden to collect the gifts, with the president seeming to joke, “Are you stealing my jersey?”
Biden, who has hosted dozens of events in the same room, then stood awkwardly looking around for direction — at one point raising both hands in an apparent questioning gesture, indicating he wasn’t sure what to do.
His uncertainty was resolved as an emcee said, “Distinguished guests, please remain in your seats as the president departs.”
Upon hearing the words, Biden swung his arms in a faux-jogging motion as he walked off stage.
After greeting two young children in the front row, Biden turned, squared his shoulders and gave a military-style salute to the Dallas-Fort Worth team.
Leading Republicans and some Democrats have called on Biden to resign the presidency over concerns that he’s unfit to be commander-in-chief of the world’s most powerful nation.
“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president. He must resign the office immediately,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said last month after Biden stood down as the Democratic presidential candidate and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor.
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) said last month that “Americans deserve to feel their president is fit enough to do the job.”
“I doubt the president’s judgment about his health, his fitness to do the job, and whether he is the one making important decisions about our country, rather than unelected advisers,” she said.
Biden had no public events Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. On Thursday evening, he’s scheduled to make a closed-door visit to his former campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., before returning to his vacation home at the Delaware shore for a long weekend.
Biden was forced out as the Democrats’ nominee after a nearly month-long pressure campaign by other party leaders over his catastrophic June 27 debate against former President Donald Trump, at which Biden repeatedly appeared confused and made indecipherable remarks such as that he “beat Medicare.”
Harris, 59, has surged in polling — currently leading Trump in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls, after Biden trailed Trump throughout 2024.
Republicans have noted that Harris has done no interviews since replacing Biden as the party’s champion, preventing opportunities to vet her policies and record, and allowing for a prolonged “honeymoon” phase ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Biden aides have insisted that he remains capable of leading the country — with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claiming he could even serve a full second term and his physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, telling The Post in an interview that Biden’s mental acuity is “excellent.”
